Home
by EmilyH821
Summary: It's been four years since Aria left Rosewood and headed to New York for college, now she's graduating and headed back home to Rosewood. But is she ready to go back to Rosewood, and is Rosewood ready for her? Rating is T mixed with M due to some scenes (scenes may get changed to be M)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Aria's pov

I stared at the three tests in front of me, each of them with same sign. All of them telling me the same thing, I'm pregnant again. Ezra and I had a plan of trying for baby number two after graduation and after I came home, but I guess we weren't as careful that night at Snookers. That night still so fresh in my mind, as if it was last night and not just last month.

_Flashback – Spring Break_

_I finished setting up the booth Ezra and I usually get when we come to Snookers. Car headlights came down the street and I knew it'd be Ezra. Mom and dad were having the boys sleep over before I head back to New York, to finish up the semester. Since the boys were gone for the night, I decided that Ezra and I needed a little date night. Even though we haven't been together much the past four years, anytime I come home we try to have a small date if there's time... Even if its more as a friend date. I had given him little hints where I was at, like a scavenger hunt and apparently the hints weren't as hard as I had thought they'd be._

"_Aria?" Ezra called as I made my way towards the door._

"_You're pretty good at hide and seek." I told him._

_Ezra's eyes widened as he saw me in the teal v neck bandage dress that Hanna gave me awhile back for Christmas. I walked over to him and he brushed his lips against mine, he knows I'm done with other guys now. It never worked out with anyone else, there had been a few guys… but it didn't click with them the way Ezra and I click, or feel the same. Of course, I couldn't tell him this. He would think I've been alone the past few years, waiting for him while he had gone on a few dates._

_ End of flashback_

"Mama!" I heard Oliver crying for me, snapping me out of my flashback.

I quickly hid the tests and hurried out of mine and Hanna's bathroom. Walking into the kids' room, I saw Rose and Aiden comforting Oliver. Ever since Caitlyn and Rose moved in around Halloween freshman year, it's like Oliver and Rose were smitten with each other. Then when Hanna and Travis had Aiden that same year, both Oliver and Rose had loved him as their other best friend. Especially after Travis kicked Hanna out of their apartment and she came here, they've been the two amigos and their amiga.

"Ollie has bad dream." Aiden told me when he saw me.

"Thank you two for comforting him. Ollie, would you like to sleep with mama tonight?" I asked, kneeling next to him.

He held his arms up for me to pick him up, I lifted him up and Rose gave me Oliver's security blanket and bubba. Oliver rested his head on my shoulder, placing his thumb in his mouth.

"I'll be right back to tuck you two back in." I told them and they nodded.

They climbed back into their beds as I walked out with Oliver and Hanna came back from getting some late-night groceries. She saw Oliver and quickly put them down and came over. Even though Oliver loves the other girls, seems like Hanna may be his favorite. I think its because she lives with us and he sees her every day, unlike seeing Spencer once or twice a month and barely seeing the others.

"What happened?" She asked.

"T-rex ate me." Oliver told her and I kissed his forehead.

"Well that wasn't very nice of the T-rex." Hanna said and looked at me.

"The other two awake too?" She asked and I nodded.

"I'll put them back to bed, Cait texted and said that she and Hardy are almost home. There's just a little traffic." Hanna said and went to tuck the kids back in.

I carried Oliver into the room I share with Hanna. Gently laying him down, I saw how much he looked like Ezra. He has always looked like his father, but the resemblance grows more and more every day. As I was about to lay his blanket over him, he crawled over onto my side of the bed and picked up the picture of him and Corey Monteith when Ollie was two. It was his favorite picture, and his favorite character was Finn on Glee when he watches my DVD set with me.

"I miss Finn mama." He said, looking at me.

"I know baby, me too." I said, as he crawled back to his spot.

"Do you think he's with Scotty and Poppy in the sky?" he asked and I sat down next to him.

"I bet he is. I'll be right back baby; I need to go get my homework. I'll do my homework right next to you okay?" I asked and he nodded.

Walking out, I passed Hanna putting the groceries away. I walked into the kitchen and looked at her. She's been slightly avoiding me lately and I have no idea why. I lost her once, I don't know if I could handle losing her again.

"Han, can we talk?" I asked and she seemed hesitant to look at me, but she nodded.

"It's pretty obvious you've been avoiding me. Did I do something?" I asked and she seemed to tear up as her eyes filled with tears.

"No, I screwed up again and you're just going to hate me." She whispered.

"I want to say first that I didn't sleep with him, we just made out. Remember that party Spencer and I went to last week in Rosewood?" She asked and I nodded, not sure where this headed.

"Well, Mike showed up… and we ended up making out. I'm so sorry." She cried and I pulled her into a hug.

"That's why you've been avoiding me? Han, Mike had a crush on you for years when we were kids. Since our freshman year of high school, maybe longer. Wait, has this happened before too?" I asked and she nodded.

"Freshman year, during one of our sleepovers at your place and Alison walked in on us and said the he was only trying to get a feel of my boobs. I had begged her not to say anything to you, I was so scared that I would lose you." She said as I took her hands in mine.

"I admit, it's a little gross that you made out with my brother… twice. But I wouldn't have stopped being friends with you, Mike had the biggest crush on you back then. So, he wasn't just trying to feel your boobs like Alison claimed." I told her, not caring if mike would kill me or not.

"Did you… you know? Feel anything?" I asked, not really needing her to answer. I already knew what she would say.

"Han, I love you okay? Nothing is going to ever ruin our friendship, not again." I told her and she nodded.

"Mama, I need a sawberry." Oliver said, rubbing his eye as he walked into the kitchen.

"It's too late for one baby, but how about a little strawberry milk to make you sleepy again?" I suggested and he nodded.

"Can I have your milk? It's yummy." He asked and I nodded.

"Alright, get back into mama's bed and I'll bring your milk to you in a few minutes." I told him.

I pulled out my almond milk and the powder to make the sugar free strawberry milk. Ever since he was a baby, he has loved strawberries in any shape or form. Getting out his late-night sippy cup, I quickly made his milk and put the milk away before grabbing my homework.

"Han, I love you. And if something were to start up between the two of you, I want you to be able to talk to me about it. Like with Spencer and Toby, please don't give me details on certain things." I said, getting her to laugh a little and she nodded in agreement.

I hurried into our room, where Oliver was talking to someone on my phone about his nightmare. Crawling into bed, I placed his sippy cup on my textbook.

"Who are you talking to Ollie?" I asked, hoping whoever it was they had called and not him call them.

"Daddy call and Ollie answered." He said proudly, not realizing he was also still talking to Ezra.

"When you're done telling about your dream, can mama talk to daddy?" I asked.

"Since you gave Ollie milk, okay." He said and handed me my phone, indicating he was done talking to Ezra already.

The second I took my phone; he went straight for his milk. These past few years, there have been times where Oliver would ice Ezra out thinking that his father didn't love him. But I would tell him that Ezra wanted us to come here for good reasons and that his daddy did love him, tonight must not be one of those times.

"Hey." I said and smiled as I heard him chuckle.

"Hi beautiful, guess Oliver's done telling me about his nightmare. Anyway, I just wanted to know if you two would be up for two visitors this weekend?" He asked and I looked at the calendar on the wall.

"Yeah, that'd be great." I said, making sure Oliver wasn't trying to eavesdrop.

Lately Oliver will try to eavesdrop on my phone calls or any conversations I have with anyone. He's getting better at not doing it, but still does it from time to time and time outs aren't really working anymore.

"We'll probably be there by five-ish on Friday if that's alright." He said and I had to hold back my excitement.

"My last class is at three thirty, if I'm not back by then Hanna or Cait should be here. If not, you already know where the spare key is." I said.

"It's pretty late, why don't I call you tomorrow and we can figure everything out?" Ezra asked as Hanna walked into our room.

"Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow. I love you." I said and I heard the smile in his voice.

'I love you too, give Ollie a kiss for me. I'm sure he's already asleep." He said. I turned to see that Ezra was right, Oliver was fast asleep in his spot.

"Night Ez." I said and we hung up.

I put Oliver's cup on my nightstand and pulled his blanket over his growing body. He stirred and I held my breath, hoping I hadn't woken him up. As he stayed asleep, I gently kissed his forehead for Ezra. Even though we had plan about Ezra seeing Oliver these past few years, there had been plenty of times that it didn't work out and Ezra hadn't seen him as much as any of us would like. Even though those times were out of any of our control, it still hurts that Ezra barely got to see Oliver grow up these past few years.

"Ezra and Malcolm are coming up for the weekend." I said quietly and Hanna smiled.

"I'll sleep on the couch; I have a feeling you two will be catching up." She said with a smirk and I threw one of my pillows at her, careful not to wake Oliver.

"I'll talk to Cait and Hardy, but why don't we take the kids out for dinner and a movie? That way you and Ezra can have some alone time too." She asked and I nodded.

She thinks I'm only agreeing so I could make love to Ezra, but I'm only agreeing so I can tell Ezra I'm pregnant. As much as I trust her again, I need Ezra to be the first one to know. And I already know how I'm going to tell him… I just hope he's as happy about it as I am.

**AN - Welcome back to the final story! How do you think Ezra is going react to the pregnancy? If you're new to this story, I do recommend reading Our Crazy life then Life with Oliver to understand quite a few things. I want to add about this story, it'll have romance, heartbreak, I'm hoping it'll have all the feels. And I don't know when I'll start uploading more chapters, I just wanted to give you this.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Friday

Aria's pov

Ezra and I decided to have some Chinese from my favorite little Chinese place just down the street and watch one of our favorite movies like the good old days. Caitlyn and Hanna were more than glad to take the kids out for a while, Malcolm was just glad to see Oliver for a while.

"How were your classes today?" Ezra asked.

We unpacked the takeout that we had gone to pick up. Luckily, Ezra didn't ask why it took so long in the restaurant. I grabbed the one container that he couldn't open yet before he could reach for it, this has to go right tonight.

"They were pretty good. And since finals are coming up, there aren't many assignments right now in a few classes." I said.

"Speaking of finals, you ready for graduation?" Ezra asked, grabbing two bottles of water.

"Ez, everyone is ready. Maddie and Natalie said they're counting the days until graduation as well." I said.

I was so shocked during the middle of Freshman year when Natalie and Maddie showed up to one of my classes. They had transferred from USC to NYU for their own reasons and Oliver loves them, just like he loves everyone. Knowing it was time, I carefully moved the take out box to where Ezra could grab it.

"Graduation's coming up pretty soon… you remember that plan we had to start trying for baby number two after graduation?" I asked carefully and Ezra nodded as he went to dump the food onto his plate.

Instead of his beef and broccoli falling onto his plate, multiple gender-neutral pacifiers poured out and Ezra stared at it confused. I held back my laughter as I watched it slowly click in his mind.

"Aria, are… are you?" I nodded smiling when I saw how happy he was.

"I'm pregnant." I said, confirming his theory.

He pulled me closer to him and pressed his lips to mine, I wrapped my arms around his neck and felt his smile in the kiss. As he slowly pulled away, he kissed my nose and rested his forehead against mine.

"The night we conceived the baby…" He trailed off with a small smirk.

"Snookers on the pool table." I whispered and he chuckled at the memory.

"My girl is finally coming home and now we're having another baby. This can't get any better." He said as he brushed some hair out of my face, making me giggle.

"Plus, Spencer and Toby's wedding is coming up at the end of June. And let's not forget Caitlyn and Rosie are moving in with Hardy." I added, I can still remember the day Caitlyn and Hardy met… as if it was yesterday.

_Flashback (October- Sophomore year)_

_Caitlyn and I were on our way back from our Zeta Nu Phi Delta meeting. I know she hates coming home late just as much as I do, and the fact Hardy is watching the kids without her meeting him first makes her a little uncomfortable. But he was on the way to visit and neither of us were able to leave our classes early since we have midterms coming up, plus we had our meeting and Daniella said the kids couldn't come this time._

"_I just told him to give them the dinosaur nuggets with some fruit." I said as we climbed the stairs to our apartment._

"_Obviously if you trust him I do too. It's just weird for me, since I haven't met him you know." She said and I nodded._

"_Cait, I completely get it. I'd feel the same way if I was in your shoes, we know Hanna or Riley would've watched them if they could." I said._

_Opening the door, we could see the kids were having one of their tea parties with Hardy as their special guest of honor. I held back my laughter at the fact Hardy was wearing a bright pink feather boa, a green bead necklace and one of Rose's princess tiaras. Sharing a look with Caitlyn, I knew she suddenly felt a whole lot better about Hardy now. Closing the door, the kids saw us and ran towards us._

"_Mama/mommy!" The kids squealed at the same time._

"_Pwetty!" Rosie said happily, pointing to Hardy._

"_I got them to eat their food, along with some extra fruit this way. But if I may say, this is the best I have ever looked." Hardy said standing up._

"_Hi, I'm Caitlyn Woods." Cait said, shaking his hand._

"_I'm Hardy, Hardy Pierce." He said, giving his famous charming smile._

_End of Flashback_

Ezra chuckled at the fact Hardy had finally moved on from his womanizing ways and somehow won Caitlyn's heart. We were all shocked by them getting together, especially since they're complete opposites in every single way. But then I remembered that Chloe and Caleb had been the same way, as were Spencer and Toby.

"But more importantly, you'll be home with me." He whispered before brushing his lips against mine.

Home – I love knowing that I'll be leaving New York and the past four years behind to go back. I always thought that after what the girls and I endured; I'd never want to go back, but all I've dreamt about these past four years was going back home to Rosewood. They all say that a home is a place, but Ezra has always been my home.

…..

Few weeks later – Graduation day

I stared at my reflection in Caitlyn's floor length mirror as we finished getting ready. This was it, my time at NYU is finally over and I'm going home to Rosewood and more importantly to Ezra… where I belong. Caitlyn looked over at me from applying her lip stain and we shared a look. She looked me up and down before smirking, I had chosen to wear a green spaghetti strap wrap dress. Which she thinks I'm wearing for Ezra since she noticed in some of my old pictures of us, I'm wearing his green button-down shirt and won't take the fact I was very pregnant at the time and didn't want to take the romance out of wearing his yellow Hollis shirt.

"Just remember, we still have a week to finish packing." She reminded me and I nodded.

"I know, but I've been waiting for this day for the past four years… since the day I came here. I no longer have to be away from Ezra, nor do we need to do legal separation any longer. We can finally live the rest of our lives together like we had planned." I said and heard the apartment door open.

"Daddy! Brother!" We heard Oliver exclaim.

Unplugging our stuff, we quickly hurried into the living room where Ezra and Malcolm were sitting down with Hanna and Hardy at the kids' play table having a tea party. Hanna had Rosie on her lap, braiding her pigtails and taking sips of her tea when Rosie holds the cup up for her.

"That tiara looks great on you man." Ezra said before seeing me and motioned towards my room and I nodded.

I led him into the bedroom and sat on my bed as he quietly shut the door. From the look on his face earlier, I knew that this was a more serious matter.

"God, I don't even know where to start on this. I'm such an asshole" He said, rubbing his forehead.

I patted the bed next to me and he sat down, sighing as he put his face in his hands. Taking his hands in mine, I made him look at me. Whatever it is that he needs to tell me, it must be something big if he's calling himself an asshole.

"Whatever it is, you know you can tell me anything Ezra." I said softly, he nodded.

"I didn't even plan on it happening. When I had gotten back to Rosewood, I – I met someone." He said softly and I realized that I wouldn't be going home to him anymore.

"Is that why you seemed weird on the skype call the other day?" I asked and he nodded

"Ez, it's not like you met her or told me about after I came back. We both knew there was always a chance of one of us meeting someone else. Also, you told me yourself instead of me coming home and finding out on my own." I said

"I wasn't about to make that mistake again." He said.

"Tell me about her, how'd you meet?"

_Flashback (Monday after coming back from New York)_

_Ezra's pov_

_I stood at the crosswalk waiting, with what seems like half the town. I checked my watch to see that it was one forty-five, and I still had some time before having to be at the school to pick up Luna and Malcolm. Even though we got home way later than I wanted to last night, Malcolm managed to get up for school today. Luckily, he can sleep in pretty soon with summer break coming up for him and he could sleep in a little bit… if Oliver lets him that is. The cross-walk sign change, indicating that we could finally cross and I followed everyone. Glancing to my right, I saw a car come down speeding and I quickly pulled a little girl back as most of us jumped out of the way of the speeding car._

"_Are you okay?" I asked the little girl._

_She nodded as everyone relaxed a bit. I glanced around to see where the woman she had been with had gone. Someone claimed they were calling the police to report the car, and whoever owned it._

"_I'm Ezra, are you sure you're okay?" I asked her and she nodded._

"_Ashleigh!" Someone called frantically._

"_I'm okay mommy!" Ashleigh called back._

_A petite woman with light brown hair and green hospital scrubs rushed over and pulled her daughter into her arms, then looked up at me. She quickly stood up and smiled at me, we hurried back to the sidewalk as the crosswalk timer finished and she held her hand out._

"_I'm Nicole Gordon, and this is my daughter Ashleigh." She said as I shook her hand._

"_Ezra Fitz." I said._

"_Well Ezra Fitz, why don't I repay you by taking you out to dinner sometime?" She suggested_

_ End of Flashback_

"Then one thing led to another and then we were dating. I messed up everything we had planned." He said and sighed.

"Ezra, you had every right to start dating her. We never said that we were done with seeing other people and we both knew that there was always a chance of either of us getting into a serious relationship. Now come on, before someone decides to start making jokes." I said and he chuckled before following me back into the living room.

….

I sighed looking around at everyone and went back to my Zeta Nu Phi Delta charm bracelet, unable to actually listen to the dean go on and on about whatever was that he was saying. My mind kept repeating what Ezra told me 'I met someone' and I couldn't get it to stop. Caitlyn turned back to face me, and I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it from her, Hardy probably already knows about Nicole and might tell Caitlyn before I could… he wouldn't do that, not after I had learned about Jackie.

"What happened when you and Ezra went into your bedroom earlier?" Caitlyn asked, turning around in her seat to talk to me.

"He met someone." I said

"Aria, are you okay?" She asked and I nodded.

"I will be." I promised her.

It's clear as day that she wasn't sure if I even believed myself. But I need to be strong for Oliver… and for myself. Even as I watch my plan for when I came home to Ezra go down the drain, I cannot cry. I'm a big girl now, I can't cry over every obstacle that's thrown at me. Even if it's the one that completely breaks my heart, and changes my future with Ezra.

….

I sat with everyone as we sat at a nice Italian restaurant that Hardy suggested when no one knew where they wanted to go. Oliver wanted to sit with Ezra, which clearly made his father very happy. Ezra and I decided to wait before telling Oliver that we wouldn't be living all together anymore when he and I come back to Rosewood.

"Mama has a broken movie." Oliver told Ezra and I held back my laughter.

I had been watching _City Lights_ while folding the laundry the other day, and Oliver saw that the screen was in black and white instead of color. Since there had been no color in the movie, he automatically assumed the DVD was broken and I needed a new one.

"You're still fascinated by that? Ollie baby, I promise you it's not broken." I told him and he looked back at Ezra.

"Tell mama it's broken daddy." Oliver said and Ezra glanced over at me.

"No idea what this is about, but it's broken Mama." He said and I laughed.

"Then in that case, you watch broken movies too." I told him.

Before Ezra could tell Oliver about black and white movies, the waiter came with our drinks and I handed Ezra the apple juice Oliver begged for. Everyone seems to notice that something was off between us, Caitlyn's the only one I told about it and I know Hanna won't press me about it. Hopefully no one will bring it up and make everything awkward.

"Lil man, that movie is supposed to be black and white." Ezra told Oliver.

"Why?" Oliver inquired as he took a sip of his juice.

"Because it was made a very long time ago, and it was hard to make colorful movies then." Ezra said.

"Why?" Oliver asked again.

"They didn't know how to color in the movies back then." Malcolm added.

"Okay!" Oliver said, happy with that response.

I mouthed a 'thank you' to him before glancing over at Ezra. We're going to have to tell the boys pretty soon, about us and the fact that they're going to have a little brother or sister. Of course, Ezra meets this Nicole woman AFTER I learn I'm pregnant. Hopefully, I can stay with my parents for a little bit, while I look for a job and new place for me and the boys to stay… oh god, we're gonna have to figure out a custody agreement. And just when I thought Oliver would be able to see his father more than he has the past four years.

"I go home with daddy." Oliver and Rosie both declared.

"You don't wanna help put things in boxes?" Caitlyn asked.

"No." They said in unison.

The waiter came with our meals and Oliver stared at the meatballs on his pasta. Ezra quickly cut the pasta for him, careful not to cut the meatballs as Oliver looked at his forks confused. Trying not to laugh at Oliver's confusion, Ezra held up both Oliver's forks and let him choose.

"I can stay with and help pack." Malcolm said, Caitlyn and I both nodded.

"Big brother." Oliver said and Malcolm looked over at him.

"Don't eat my cheerios." Oliver said and Malcolm nodded.

"I promise not to eat your cheerios little brother, pinky promise." Malcolm said, giving Oliver his word.

As I watched Malcolm and Oliver interact with each other, I caught Ezra's eye and gave him a small smile. I knew going home would be different for everyone when they learn about us. Even though we won't be together, we're still a family and always will be.

**AN – Chapter 2 is up! I'm still trying to get all these first few chapters done, and as of right now – I don't have a posting schedule. I'll try my best to get chapter 3 posted soon -I'm not home right now, I'm helping take care of my grandparents but as soon as I can I'll post again.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Aria's pov – few days later

I shut the trunk of my car after getting everything to fit, waiting for Malcolm to come outside. As the trunk fully shut, a flashback hit me faster than I could blink.

_Flashback – January 2016 (end of Winter Break)_

_I watched Ezra shut my trunk as Malcolm walked out of the house carrying Oliver on his back. Even though I probably shouldn't, I stay with him a few days during breaks and it hurts every time I have to leave._

"_This never gets any easier." I said quietly. _

"_Graduation is only four months away. Just think, this is the last time we'll have to say goodbye." He whispered and our eyes met._

_Without saying another word, his lips were gently on mine and I cupped his face. As much as I want us to stop doing legal separation, he still wants me to date other guys. But I don't want to be with anyone but him, he's my soulmate and no one can argue that. Honestly, I stopped dating my sophomore year after Riley and I broke up. I also didn't want to risk ending up with another guy like Jake, who dumped me because I cancelled a date due to Oliver being sick._

"_April will be here before you know it." He whispered as he pulled apart._

_End of Flashback_

I stared across the street, holding back the tears as I heard Malcolm walking up. Even though he told me that he knows about Ezra and Nicole, I don't want him to see me upset about this. Besides, if I start crying, I don't think I'd be able to stop and it would be terrible if he saw me cry over this. If only Ezra and I had known that day, we'd be saying one more goodbye… the final one to our relationship. Unlocking the car, we quickly got in and buckled up before I started up the car.

"So, how's Dani?" I asked as we pulled out of the parking lot.

"Who told you about Dani?" He asked shocked.

I looked at him confused. How does he not remember telling me about Dani when she moved to Rosewood a few months ago? From what he had told me, it was just her and her dad since her mom had died years ago. Her dad was stepping in for Pastor Ted, while he and Ms. Marin had gone on their honeymoon. Everyone loved Dani's dad as much as they love Ted, so now they work together.

"You did… Wait a minute, do you like her?" I asked and he made a face.

"Okay then, you don't like her. But if you did, you know you can talk to me about it. I promise not to tease you… too much." I said and he chuckled.

"I know I can, but can we talk about something else?" He asked and I nodded.

"How's Fish?" I asked.

"He's good, I take him for a walk every day. Or I at least try to anyway, it'll be easier now that schools out and I don't have soccer practice until July." He said

"I still remember the day you got him." I said.

"Me too. Unless you mention the park or a walk, Fish acts just like a fish instead of a dog." Malcolm said as we laughed at Fish.

Without saying another word, I handed Malcolm the aux cord and he plugged his phone in to play some music. He pressed play and as Justin Timberlake's 'Damn Girl' came on, I gave him a high five. I may have only been his mother since he was seven, but he clearly got his good music taste from me. Ezra mostly listens to the eighties or something, I'm starting to think I married an old man.

…..

"Are you hungry babes? It'll be at least an hour and a half before we get to Rosewood." I asked and he nodded.

As much as I want to wait until I'm back in Rosewood to eat, but I know if I don't get something to eat now, I'll be on the side of the road throwing up. Ezra and I wanted to tell the boys together about the baby, but if Malcolm asks about my throwing up… I may not be able to come up with a good lie. Malcolm and I got out of the car just as my phone rang and I saw it was Spencer.

"Where are you? I wanted to remind you that the welcome home get-together is at our place." Spencer said as I answered,

I motioned for Malcolm to go get us a table and I'll meet him in a minute. Hopefully this won't take long, because I'm growing hungrier by the second and it won't take long before I become hangry. No one wants to be near me when I'm hangry.

"Can't believe we're all back together again. When was the last time that happened?" I asked, and she sighed.

"Not all of us will be here. Toby just told me that Caleb's planning on staying in California a bit longer than he originally planned, I think he's just trying to avoid Chloe." She said and I sighed, knowing he wasn't in California like everyone thinks.

Everyone had taken Chloe and Caleb break up after Spring break Freshman year hard. We all thought they would make it through, but it wasn't the case with them. Long distance didn't work out for them, and it broke all our hearts, not just theirs. Before Junior year when he told me that he was moving to New York to work for some company, I thought he was going to try to get Chloe back… but he didn't. It kills me that I've been keeping this secret from Chloe, especially after she came to New York in tears after they broke up.

"Hey, I have to go. But I'll see you guys tonight." I said and quickly hung up before heading inside.

Seeing Malcolm at one of the little booths, I quickly made my way over there and sat down. Seeing him, it brought me back to when Ezra and I went to the little diner in New York when I was bringing him home. Not seeing Malcolm grow up these past four years, it hurt. But I'm not leaving Rosewood again, and I get to watch him finish growing up into the young man he's starting to become.

"Do you think Ollie would like to play soccer this summer? The team Dani and I help assist are going to have try outs, but everyone gets onto the team anyway." Malcolm asked, as a waiter walked over.

"Can I get you two anything, or do you need some more time?" He asked.

"May I get a sweet tea and a hamburger?" Malcolm asked and the waiter nodded.

"Just a waldorf salad and a water for me please." I said.

As the waiter walked off, my phone rang and I pulled it out to see that it was Hardy. Hopefully Oliver was behaving, and I really hope Ezra hadn't introduced him to Nicole yet. Even though Ezra had promised to ease Oliver into everything with me, I'm just worried about Ollie meeting this Nicole without me there or without me meeting her first. He's already too excited about us moving back home to Ezra, which we haven't told him yet that it won't be happening.

"Hey, is everything good over there?" I asked.

"Everything is fine Aria, but before you see Ezra can you stop over by us? There's something Caitlyn and I wanna talk to you about in person." He said.

"Yeah, we can stop by." I said as Malcolm looked over at me from his phone as I hung up.

"Hardy and Caitlyn want us to stop by before I drop you off with dad." I said and he made a face.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"You'll just drop me off and pick Ollie up? We're already at the point of us being his kids or her kids? This is all Nicole's fault! This is why I don't like her, she ruined everything! We were supposed to be a family again but she just had to come to Rosewood. And now, Ollie and I are just his and her kids!" Malcolm said.

"Dad and I may not be together right now, BUT we are still a family an always will be. Malcolm honey, you and your brother will NEVER be his and her kids. That is the last thing we want to happen; I didn't mean for that to sound like that was what was happening." I told him.

Sighing, he picked up a fry and leaned back into his seat. Taking a bite of my salad, I watched as he went back to eating his fries. Him finding out about Nicole was inevitable, but now I wish Ezra and I could have told him together that we're staying separated.

"You're pregnant, he should stay with you." He asked and I reached across the table and caressed his face.

"Because, I want him to choose what his heart wants. I'm not going to make him stay with me because of the baby, even though I don't know why or how you found out about the baby. Do you remember why he was so set on me going off to college without him?" I asked and Malcolm shook his head.

"He didn't want to take the chance of me growing to resent him or our relationship. Let's say I make him stay with me, there's a chance he could resent me for that. I want dad to be happy, even if it means not being with him." I said gently.

"I don't want you to worry about my relationship with your father. You should just focus on spending time with your friends and enjoying this summer." I told him and he nodded.

….

I sat with Hardy and Caitlyn at the kitchen table, watching Malcolm play with Rosie in the backyard. Turning back around, I caught them looking at each other. They haven't said much since we got here, except to have Malcolm play with Rosie out in the backyard.

"I know this might be a little hard to talk about, but do you know where you'll stay?" Caitlyn asked carefully.

"Until I get my own place, I'll be staying with my parents." I said and both Caitlyn and Hardy shook their heads.

"No. You'll stay with us until you find your own place, there's plenty of room. We've been talking about this since graduation, there's already a room set up for you and one for the boys." Caitlyn said, sipping on her water.

"I've been working on it since the day after your graduation, you're like a sister to me. You shouldn't have to move back in with your folks for the time being." He said as I looked at him confused.

"Are you two sure? You're moving in together for the first time, and you want me to move in too?" I asked and they both nodded.

Caitlyn tilted her head, looking past me into the backyard. I turned around to see Oliver trying to open the backdoor and I quickly got up to let him in. As Oliver looked up at me, Hardy came over to us.

"Are you and daddy playing hide and seek again? And didn't he tell you earlier not to come here to hide?" He asked, kneeling down in front of Oliver

"Maybe…" Oliver said, looking down at the ground.

"Remember what your daddy told you last time?" Hardy asked gently

"I'm too little to cross the street by myself. But I saw mama's car here!" Oliver said.

"Oliver Scott, am I hearing this right? Daddy told you not to do something and you did it anyway? It doesn't matter if you saw my car here or not, you disobeyed daddy." I told him.

"I'm sorry mama!" He cried.

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to. I'm gonna bring you back, and you're going to sit in your room to think about what you did wrong." I told him.

I took his hand and led him out of the house, after giving Hardy an apologetic look. Now I understand why my mom used to tell me that I'll get karma by experiencing these disobediences myself, when I had gotten in trouble as a child. But why would he cross the street, especially when I have told him multiple times back in New York that he always has to hold someone's hand. Walking up the porch steps, I kneeled down and looked at Oliver's tear streaked face.

"Do you remember what Mama told you about crossing streets?" I asked.

"Always hold someone's hand. But Rosewood smaller mama." He said and I shook my head.

"It doesn't matter, crossing the street is always dangerous. That's why you need to hold someone's hand." I said.

I stood up and straightened out my romper before pressing the doorbell. Without missing a beat, Ezra swung the door open and sighed of relief when he saw Oliver.

"I sorry daddy." Oliver said as Ezra kneeled down and pulled him into a hug.

"I'm just glad you're okay, but why did you go after I told you not to?" Ezra asked then noticed me.

"He saw my car." I told him as he stood up.

"Ok, you know what to do." I told Oliver.

He made his way up the stairs, with Fish trailing after him. Ezra led me towards the kitchen, and I sat down at the kitchen table as he walked over to the fridge. Neither of us said anything as he opened it up and pulled out two bottles of water, he walked back over and placed one in front of me.

"So… we're telling Oliver today then?" He asked and I nodded.

"Better now than later, that why he's not completely confused on why we're staying with Caitlyn and Hardy." I said.

We quickly stopped talking as we heard Oliver's footsteps coming down the stairs. He peeked around the corner and Ezra walked over to him. Picking him up, Ezra pretended Oliver was a rocket ship and sat him on the island. I made my way over to them, Ezra and I both grabbed ourselves barstool to sit down on. Oliver looked over at the fruit bowl before picking out a small banana, Ezra and I shared a looked as we watch him try to peel it himself.

"Ollie baby, you know how mama and daddy have been living apart?" I asked and Oliver nodded.

"Well, we did a lot of thinking and we're going to be separated a bit longer than we thought." Ezra said carefully.

"Because I crossed the street by myself?" Oliver asked.

"No, baby. This has nothing to do with you crossing the street by yourself." I reassured him.

The front door opened and Fish barked happily, indicating it was Malcolm. He walked into the kitchen and realized we were telling Oliver about the separation. I watched as he hopped onto the island, next to Oliver. I shared a look with Ezra, we knew that the arrangement would work out somehow.

"Do either of you have any questions about this?" Ezra asked.

"Where is everyone staying?" Malcolm asked.

"Dad's staying in the house, while I'll stay with Caitlyn and Hardy for awhile. But we're going to find a way for you two be with us equally." I said, looking at Malcolm.

Ezra and I shared a look with one another, as we waited for the boys to absorb this. It was obvious that Malcolm would understand all of this a lot better than Oliver will. I noticed Oliver had started paying more to his banana than absorbing the news.

"Just because mama and daddy are staying separated, that doesn't mean anything else is going to change. We still love both of you unconditionally, our love for you two will never change." Ezra told them as my phone beeped, I checked my phone to see it was my mom.

'_Are you back yet? I want to see my little geese.'_ She sent.

'_Yeah, just catching up with Ezra. I can come by in a little bit.' _I responded

"Grandma wants to see you two. Ollie, go get bubba." I told him.

Malcolm seemed to sense something, and lifted Oliver off the counter. Both the boys headed upstairs and Ezra looked at me. I followed him into the living room, where I saw our wedding picture still on the mantel. As I turned my attention to Fish, Ezra looked at me again.

"Aria. I want you to know, that with everything changing – it will not change the fact I'm going to be there for you one hundred percent. That's a given, even if I end up driving you insane." He said softly.

"I know." I told him.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - that night

Aria's pov

I pulled up Spencer and Toby's driveway, staring at awe of the house. I forgot how beautiful it was from the last time I was here. Glancing into my rear-view mirror, I watched Oliver play with his dinosaurs and giggled quietly at him. Malcolm was helping fix something with Hardy's car, so they were bringing him with tonight.

"Ok Mr. Oliver, you ready to go see auntie Spencie and everyone else?" I asked and he looked up excitedly.

"Yeah!" He said.

Getting out of the car, I smoothed out my embellished coral top and skirt that Ollie picked for me to wear tonight. I opened the door to see Oliver was trying to unbuckle himself, with no luck. Emily pulled up to the curb as Oliver looked over at me.

"Would you like some help?" I asked and he nodded.

"Yes, please mama." He said and I kissed his forehead.

Unbuckling his seatbelt, I picked him up and stood him up as Emily got out of her car and Toby walked out. Oliver looked between them then looked up at me for help.

"Hey there Ace! Come give me a hug!" Toby said.

"No, give auntie Emmy a hug!" Emily called out.

As Oliver tried to decide who to hug first, Spencer came out and he ran towards her. Toby kneeled down with his arms open, thinking that Oliver was going to him and stared at me in shock when Oliver went past him. Emily began laughing as she came over and pulled me into a hug.

"Spencie!" He said happily as she picked him up.

"How's my favorite little Ollie?" She asked.

I walked over to Emily, she pulled me into a hug and Maya pulled in with Hanna and Chloe with her. Noticing Ezra or Malcolm weren't with us, Emily looked over at me and I knew I was going to have to tell them. Spencer looked over concerned as Oliver was talking about something, and I'm sure that he mentioned the separation. Walking over to her, I took Oliver from her and kissed his forehead as Maya, Chloe, Hanna got out.

"Ollie, why don't you and uncle Toby play in the back yard? Mama wants to talk to your aunties for a little bit okay?" I said and he nodded as the girls realized something was really up.

Toby smiled softly at me as Oliver took his hand and followed him around to the backyard. Spencer motioned for us to follow her and led us into the house, I looked around at the interior that was clearly designed by Spencer and not Toby. The last time I was here, I was helping them pick out wedding colors. Maybe I should have told one of them about what's going on between Ezra and myself, I don't know why I didn't.

"I thought everything was fine between you and Ezra?" Hanna asked as we sat around the kitchen table

"Ezra made sure he told me himself, instead me finding out by someone else or on my own. He said that after his last visit, he met a woman named Nicole. He saved her daughter from being hit by a speeding car that ran a red light and she insisted on taking him out to dinner. Now even though they're dating, he's still going to be there for me and the baby." I said, then realized what I just said.

"What's up with him, thinking he's superman?" Maya asked

"It's who he is, he'd rescue a cat out of a tree if he could. But I'm glad its Nicole and not like someone from our past, otherwise I'd be wondering if he had feelings for them the entire time, we were together." I said.

"You're being very mature about this." Spencer mentioned.

"Why wouldn't I be? We're all adults here. Plus, we both knew in the back of our minds that there was always a chance that one of us would get into a serious relationship." I pointed out.

"But he –." Emily started to say but I cut her off

'Doesn't matter, he met her before I even came home and he was completely honest with me about it. Yes, he knew I was coming home. But we never said that we would stop seeing other people." I told them and they nodded.

Oliver and Rose came running into the house giggling with Malcolm Toby, Hardy, and Caitlyn following. I love the fact that the kids can now have a backyard to play in, not just parks or the parking lot of an apartment building. Maybe I can find a house to rent instead of intruding on Hardy and Cait. Oliver went to climb onto Emily's lap, and she gladly snuggled him as he grabbed a carrot.

….

Later that night

Watching Oliver happily play with Ezra, I sighed to myself. Chloe saw me and motioned for me to come over by her, I walked over to her and Maya by the firepit where they were making roasting marshmallows.

"Are you okay about everything?" Chloe asked and I nodded.

"Aria, can you come help me in the kitchen?" Spencer asked, standing up.

I quickly walked into the kitchen after her, and she pulled me where no one could see us. Without saying another word, Spencer pulled out a small sandwich bag and handed it to me. I looked at the bag to see a pregnancy test inside.

"Spencer, I don't need to take a…" I trailed off, realizing that its already been used and she pressed a finger to her lips.

"Oh my god! You're pregnant too?" I whispered excitedly and she nodded.

We were all expecting her to come home from their honeymoon pregnant. But the fact that we both got pregnant around the same time, it makes being pregnant together even better. Ever since we were little, we always wanted to experience pregnancy together.

"I got my karma from junior year, Toby walked in on me taking the test. And I'm guessing you weren't planning on telling anyone yet, I could tell after when you mentioned Ezra being there for you and the baby. There was a quick flash of 'oh crap' in your eyes." Spencer said softly.

"Does Nicole know about the baby?" She asked and I shrugged.

"Maybe, but I don't know… And I don't want to ask." I told her.

Noticing it was pretty late, we walked outside to see everyone having fun. I looked around, looking for Oliver and saw that he was playing with Ezra, Toby, and Malcolm. The girls were around the bonfire, laughing and roasting marshmallows. Seeing me, Oliver came running with the football… ending the game the guys were playing.

"Ollie baby, it's time to go. Go tell daddy you'll see him tomorrow, and give back the ball." I told Oliver, as I grabbed his dinosaur zip up hoodie.

"Why we not going home with daddy? Don't we live with daddy?" Oliver asked.

"Remember what mama and daddy told you earlier baby? But you get to have more sleepovers with Rosie." I said quickly before he could become upset.

"Yay! Sleepover with Rosie!" He said happily, getting Rose to look up from the story book Hardy was reading her.

Ezra picked Oliver up for a hug. Before Oliver could give him a goodbye kiss, Ezra blew a raspberry on his cheek. Oliver laughed as he tried to squirm out of his father's arms, something that's barely happened these past few years.

"Okay lil man, you be good for mama and I'll see you tomorrow." Ezra said as he stood Oliver back down.

"See you tomorrow daddy!" Oliver said and hurried to the car.

"To be honest, I didn't think that would work." Ezra said softly as soon as Oliver was out of earshot and I looked at him.

"Ez, it's going to take a little bit for him to fully understand what's going on. We'll see you tomorrow." I said.

I silently sighed as I turned around, reminding myself he can't kiss me goodbye anymore. Seeing Oliver trying to open his door, I held in my laughter and unlocked my car. As he struggled to climb in, I walked over to him and helped him into the car.

….

I sighed to myself as I hung up my clothes. The kids had managed to convince Hardy to have a camp out in the backyard, so Caitlyn and I basically had the house to ourselves tonight. Caitlyn placed a hand on my shoulder and turned me around to face her.

"Aria you know you're allowed to be upset about this. I've lived with you for the past four years; I can tell when you're hiding your emotions. Remember when you were worried about your late period when I had moved in Freshman year?" She asked and I nodded.

"I'm just being strong for Oliver. He shouldn't have to see me upset; he's iced Ezra out quite a few times when he believed that Ezra didn't love us. And if he saw me crying, there's a good chance he would ice his father out again. No way I'm letting that happen again." I told her.

Sitting down on the freshly made bed, she patted the spot next to her and I sat down. There's no way that she'll let this go so easily, especially since we don't always get to have girl talks as like we did when we first met.

"Last time I checked; the kids are camping outside with Hardy. So... go ahead and let it out, you know you can't bottle up those feelings forever." She said, pulling me into a hug as I burst into tears

"I'm terrified to meet her, then it'll be real that it's over. The second he told me about her; I knew my plan wouldn't be happening. I feel like Rachel during the Cory tribute episode. I had coming home all planned out." I said, as I slowly calmed down.

"What do you mean?" She asked, rubbing my back.

"I'd come home and walk into the house. And as soon as he saw me, I'd jump into his arms like in the movies and we'd know there wouldn't be any more goodbyes…. God it was such a stupid plan."

"It was a beautiful plan, that just happened to get changed." Caitlyn said softly.

I sighed and got off the bed. Walking over to the dresser, I picked up a picture of me and Ezra on my eighteenth birthday. He had surprised me to a weekend trip to Philly, just us and the boys. Without saying another word, she got up and walked out of my room as I began unpacking my pajamas and workout clothes. I stood up and walked over to the window, and watch Hardy play catch with the kids. Caitlyn walked back in, holding her complete DVD set of Gilmore Girls.

"We are going to watch a show that I know will make you feel better… Obviously not Glee, since it's in a box somewhere." She said and I smiled before grabbing my laptop.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – few days later

I opened my eyes to see that it was seven in the morning. Sitting up, I noticed Hardy was coming down the hall. I knew Caitlyn had already left to go to her interview at the Rosewood Daycare center, I really hope she gets the job. All she talked about the past four years was becoming a preschool teacher, and she is so amazing with kids. Hardy walked in, handed me a cup of coffee and sat down next to me.

"Thank you, did she leave for her interview already?" I asked, as he handed me the coffee and sat down next to me.

"Right before I came up here." He told me.

"I don't even know what I'm going to do job wise, I thought working in London this past summer would have helped me get an idea for the next bestselling novel. But all I have are blanks, I can't come up with a good plot or anything." I told him.

"Maybe you can write about something that's personal to you, like your and Ezra's relationship." He said softly and I shook my head.

"He's with Nicole, how would it look if I ask him if I can write about our past romance when he has a new girlfriend?" I asked.

"Maybe don't tell him for now, just write it out. I'm not saying publish it, but just write it for yourself. Perhaps, it'll spark the most amazing idea." He said and I chuckled.

"I wouldn't be able to keep it from him; especially after I learned about his book about Alison and their relationship. We can't have a repeat of that; besides I've kept enough secrets from him the past few years." I reminded him and he nodded.

We both knew that one way or another, Ezra will find out about what happened between us back in Sophomore year. Caitlyn and Hanna swore they wouldn't tell him, while I just want to forget that night ever happened.

"Anyways, we should probably go wake the kids up. How about pancakes for breakfast? I can make my famous mint chocolate pancakes for everyone." He suggested.

"Perfect, I can whip up some scrambled eggs as well." I said.

Getting up, we quickly made our way downstairs and I walked into the kitchen. Hardy pulled out the ingredients he needs for his pancakes, and I pulled out the eggs. I looked out the living room window, to see who I'm guessing is Nicole walking up to mine and Ezra's house… well now it's just Ezra's house. Taking a deep breath and silently sighed, I looked over to see Hardy watching me.

"Thank you again, for taking me in. You guys have no idea how much it means to me." I said and he pulled me into a hug.

"You don't need to keep thanking us Aria. Remember what I told you? You're like a little sister to me, ever since I met you." He said, and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Ok, the second time. Because I knew when you came to check on him, that it was real between you guys." He corrected himself, as he poured the batter into the pan.

"Did you think I was using him for a grade when we first met?" I asked and he shook his head.

"I knew you were his student, but that never crossed my mind. Just thought Ezra was being stupid, but I was wrong. No one is more meant to be together than you two." Hardy said.

Neither of us said anymore, as he continued to making the pancakes. I pulled out another mixing bowl and started cracking the eggs, enough for everyone to have some. It's pretty clear that Ezra hadn't told Hardy about me being pregnant again. Even though we were planning on waiting to tell people, I'm pretty shocked he hadn't told Hardy. The girls made it pretty obvious to Ezra last night that they knew about the baby.

"I want him to choose us, because that's what he wants. Not just because everyone thinks we're meant to be, or because of the kids and the baby." I said and he stared at me.

"Wait… You're pregnant and he's with Nicole? He knew you were pregnant when he came home before your graduation, didn't he?" He asked and I nodded.

He went back to the pancakes, obviously now pissed at Ezra and I quickly made the scrambled eggs as we heard the kids walking around upstairs. We both knew that our conversation wasn't over yet, but we couldn't keep talking about it in front of the kids. As Hardy finished the rest of the pancakes, Rosie walked into the kitchen and I went to get her chocolate milk ready.

"Where's mommy?" Rosie asked, rubbing her eye sleepily.

"Remember pumpkin? She had her job interview." Hardy said, picking her up and I handed her the milk.

"Thank you, Ari." She said happily as I gave her a smile.

I placed the pancakes and eggs on the table, as Oliver walked in with bubba in his hand. I went to get his milk and he followed me. Since Ezra and I told him about us staying separated, he's been extra clingy to me. I don't mind him being clingy, especially since he's getting so big and he doesn't need me as much when he was a baby.

"Hi baby, how'd you sleep?" I asked, making his strawberry milk.

"I sleep good." He told me.

Hardy handed the kids some paper plates and napkins. Ezra said that he would stop by before he has to go to The Brew for the day. I brought the forks to the table for them, and they quickly set the table.

"Who's ready for pancakes?" Hardy asked and the kids looked at us.

"Dance party?" They begged, Hardy looked over at me and we shared a look.

"One song, then you two need to eat." I told them, getting them to cheer in response.

Hardy quickly pulled up a song on his phone and the kids scrambled out of their chairs. Oliver took my hands as '_You got a friend in me'_ from _Toy Story_ began. Rosie giggled as Hardy twirled her in a circle, Oliver jumped around laughing as I picked him up. Spinning him in a circle, I caught a glimpse of Ezra crossing the street and Nicole's car pulling away.

"It's you and me boy." I sang, dipping and planting kisses on his cheek.

"Am I interrupting?" Ezra asked, walking in as I stood Oliver on the ground and shook my head

"No, we're just about to go eat." I said as the song ended.

The kids skipped into the kitchen sat at the table, as I went to get the food and Ezra followed us. I quickly filled the kids' plates. I motioned for Ezra to sit down, Hardy looked at me concerned and I gave him a look to tell him to be nice.

"Eat up, there's plenty." Hardy said as we sat down.

"No yolk mama?" Oliver asked, and I shook my head.

"Just scrambly, the way you like 'em." I said.

"If it's okay with mama, why don't you come to work with me lil man? I could use a helper, and Miss. Sabrina said she could use a cookie taster." Ezra said.

"Can I go mama?" Oliver asked me hopefully, and I nodded.

"Ok, but finish your breakfast first. And I want you to chew your food, not swallow it whole." I told him.

"Mama don't like it when I just swallow my food." Oliver said.

"Daddy doesn't like it either." Ezra told him as my phone beeped.

'_Can you please pick Caleb up from the airport for me? I'm swamped here at work; I'll owe you big time!'_ – Toby

'_Yeah, I can pick him up. I love it when you owe me.'_ – Aria

"Guess I'm picking Caleb up now. It's not even eight thirty and Toby's swamped at work already, probably parking tickets." I joked.

I put my phone down and took a couple pancakes from the huge stack, that looks like no one has even made a dent in. I passed the plate to Ezra, our hands met under the plate and I pulled my hand away quickly.

"Drive safe out there. According to the news, there was a huge accident and traffic is all backed up." Ezra said, looking at me.

"I might as well leave now then. Ollie, I'm going to lay your clothes on your bed. Which shirt you wanna wear today?" I asked.

"FBI." Oliver said, with a mouthful of pancake.

"Remember to chew Oliver." I reminded him, and headed upstairs.

Walking into the boy's room, I pulled out Oliver's black 'I'm the FBI' shirt from the closet. I kneeled down at their dresser, rummaging through his pants drawer for some shorts and heard a crinkling noise. Moving his pants aside, I saw a package of cookies on the bottom of the drawer. Holding back my laughter, I quickly grabbed his favorite dinosaur shorts and covered his cookies back up. I'll have to talk to him later about hiding cookies in his room, especially since this isn't our house.

"Ollie, why don't you go get dressed now. I'll see you later alligator." I said and he giggled.

"In a while crocodile." He finished.

Watching Oliver hurry up the stairs, I turned to look over at Ezra. All of a sudden, I feel awkward still being in my pajamas in front of him. Especially since I'm wearing my black dolphin shorts that he used to love.

"He should be a few minutes." I said, he nodded and I hurried upstairs.

Looking into the boys' room, I saw Oliver picking up his green gym shoes. I quickly walked into my room as my phone beeped, reminding me to make an appointment to see my obgyn soon. Searching through my closet, I grabbed my pastel geometric dress and Oliver walked into my room.

"No mama, this one!" Oliver said, pointing at my black jewel studded top.

"Ok baby, I'll wear that one. Daddy's downstairs waiting for you, you don't want to keep him waiting Ollie." I told him.

"Bye mama!" He said and hurried downstairs, closing my door behind him.

I quickly pulled my mint green skirt, pulling it on and looked into my mirror. There was a knock on my door and I opened it to see Ezra standing there.

"Hey, I was thinking and why don't we take the boys out and have a small family dinner tonight?" Ezra asked.

"Yeah, that sounds good. What were you thinking?" I asked, walking back into my room and grabbing my mint high tops.

"Maybe pizza, you guys haven't been to the new pizzeria yet." Ezra said.

"Pizza sounds good." I said, and followed him back downstairs.

….

I stood in front of the train station, waiting for Caleb to get here. Luckily for both of us, I was the one Toby texted to 'pick him up' from the airport. As I glanced at my phone for the time again, someone walked up and I looked up to see it was Caleb.

"Hey lil mama." He said, using his old nickname for me.

He quickly pulled me into a hug, I gave him a look as we pulled apart and he chuckled. Picking his suitcase up, he motioned for us to get out of here and I nodded. We walked down the street to where I parked my car, I stopped and turned to look at him.

"Caleb, you can't keep lying to everyone. They're going to find out one way or another." I told him and he nodded.

"I know and I will, I just need a little bit more time to figure out what to say. Even though I don't think I'm ready to know whether or not Chloe will forgive me." He said and sighed.

"Lying to Chloe hasn't just been hard on you." I pointed out, unlocking my car.

"I know Aria, and I'm so sorry I put you in that position. Especially with what happened with Byron and keeping his affair from Ella." Caleb asked and I nodded.

Starting up the car, I caught a glance over at Caleb. I was hoping that all the secrets and lies would have stopped after Alison's torture had ended, but now I'm lying again with Caleb and keeping secrets from Ezra with Hardy. Caleb isn't the only one who's worried about getting forgiveness, but mine and Hardy's secret is a lot worse than just lying about where Caleb lives.

….

Caleb and I walked into the Grille; there were a few people having lunch in business suits. Chloe walked out and smiled when she saw us, I hate the fact I wasn't able to warn her beforehand about us coming in for lunch.

"Hey Chloe, long time." Caleb said, holding out his hand and she gave him a look.

"Yeah… How have you been?" She asked, pulling him in for a hug.

"Good- good, I've been good. You look great, are you running this place already?" He asked.

"Mostly, almost there. My dad is just having a hard time letting go of it. He's always around, helping in one way or another." She said.

Grabbing menus, she quickly led us to one of the little booths by the window. I sat down and realized that I could see The Brew from our booth. Maybe working here again could help me get the inspiration I need for my first novel. Hopefully, Ezra won't think I'm just trying to spy on him and Nicole.

"Speaking of help…. Do you need any hosting or waitressing help?" I asked and she smiled.

"I would love some help. Georgie, my day host just quit. We can figure out a schedule for you, so you can also spend plenty of time with Ollie." Chloe told me, and I nodded.

"Well, I'm hoping that Ezra and I just switch off weeks with the boys. If we agree on that, then I can work a lot more hours the weeks he has the boys if you need me to." I said.

Caleb looked at me concerned as Chloe walked away to let us decide what we wanted. I knew I would have to tell him about everything going on between Ezra, Nicole, and myself. Everyone has been part of our relationship for so long; from each of them finding out about us, to Ezra's past relationship with Alison and the book about her, and to the day we sign the legal separation papers and I left for New York.

"You don't have to tell me anything yet Ar, but are you really okay?" He asked softly.

"No… I'm not. I pretend I'm okay, like I'm just holding back my feelings to be strong for Oliver. But I know that if I admit it to myself… I may lose it a lot more than I did with Caitlyn." I said.

"You're only human Aria, and you are allowed to lose it." Caleb pointed out and I sighed.

"He has a girlfriend." I said quietly

"Please tell me that he told you himself, instead of you just walking into the house and seeing her there or someone else being the one who told you." Caleb said.

"Calm down Rivers, everything is fine between us about it. Ezra made sure he told me himself about it, he told me before graduation. He wasn't about to let there be a repeat of senior year, but there is more. I slipped about it to the girls, but no one else really knows except for them and I'm hoping Nicole." I said.

"I'm pregnant again, we found out a couple weeks ago… Before he met Nicole, please do not have the same reaction Hardy had when I told him." I said, watching his facial expression.

"You know I'm here if you need anything. Even if it's just getting the pickle jar open or taking you to an appointment." He said.

"Thank you." I said, giving him a small smile.

…

I sat next to Ezra since the boys wanted to sit together picked the other side of the booth at Pizzeria Delights, the newest pizza parlor in Rosewood. The boys already were already coloring on their menus, and I shared a look with Ezra. Even though I told him he should invite Nicole and Ashleigh, he just wanted this dinner to be the four of us. To show the boys… well mostly Oliver, that nothing would change the four of us. But it worries me on how Oliver will see it through his eyes. I picked up one of the parmesan zucchini fries, that we ordered for an appetizer.

"How was working with daddy, Ollie?" Malcolm asked.

"Good, I bossed him around." Ollie said smiling.

"How was your day Malcolm?" I asked, looking at Malcolm.

"Tiring, Dani and I babysat the Anderson twins." He said.

I noticed Oliver was staring at the fry in my hand and I placed it on his plate, receiving a look from him. Picking it back up, I broke it in half and ate the bigger half. Before he could try to protest eating the vegetable, our waitress Samantha came up.

"Are we ready to order?" She asked.

"I like the Ollie special please." Oliver asked, she glanced at me slightly confused.

"He'd like black olives, pepperoni, and sausage on his pizza." I told her.

"That sounds delicious, and for you?" She asked.

"The veggie delight for me please." I said, and she nodded.

"Let me guess, you two want your usual?" She asked.

Both Ezra and Malcolm both nodded. As Samantha walked away, I looked at Ezra and smirked. Almost four years, you would think he would've learned how to cook something… Especially since he had Malcolm with him.

"That says a lot about your cooking skills." I teased Ezra.

"At least I don't set the smoke alarm off." He teased back

"No, you just tend to almost set the kitchen on fire." Malcolm pointed out.

"I'm now worried about leaving our kids with you." I said laughing.

Ezra rolled his eyes at me, and gave me a small smile as the boys laughed at us making fun of each other. I really hope the boys understand when they're older why Ezra and I are staying separated, especially Malcolm. Even though Oliver seemed okay with Nicole, I still worry about how he's going to when he has to see her even more than he already has.

"If mama says yes… why don't we go mini golfing after dinner?" Ezra said and the boys looked at me.

"Let's do it!" I said, sharing a look with Ezra.

…..

Ezra pulled into the driveway, and Malcolm helped Oliver with his seatbelt. As soon as Oliver was out of his car seat, he scrambled up front and onto Ezra's lap. I glanced back to see that Malcolm's completely ready for bed after spending the last few hours with Oliver, I don't blame him since Oliver still wears me out.

"Night night daddy." Oliver said.

"Don't let the bed bugs bite lil man. I'll see you guys in the morning okay?" Ezra said, looking at all three of us. Oliver nodded before climbing back into the backseat.

"Oliver, listen to brother when you two get inside. I'll be up in a few minutes to tuck you in and read you a story.

We watched the boys as Malcolm led Oliver inside, neither of us said a word. I grabbed mine and Oliver's leftovers, before sitting back up and looking at Ezra.

"Thanks for dinner and mini golfing, although you didn't have to pay for both. I could have paid for something." I said and he raised an eyebrow at me.

"I took you guys out, it's my treat. Why don't I walk you to the door?" He suggested softly.

"If you want, not sure what you think will happen if you don't. Do you think someone will run by and kidnap me or something?" I joked and he looked at me.

"I hope you know jokes like that will never be funny to me Ar. That was the scariest thing to ever happen to me and I got shot. You being kidnapped was scarier than almost dying." He said as we both got out of the car.

I watched him put his hands in his pockets, unsure what to say to that. We made our way up the sidewalk, as the light in Hardy and Caitlyn's went on and I prayed that Oliver didn't wake anyone up. Oliver tends to be loud without meaning to, hopefully he's too tired from dinner and mini golfing.

"Hey, maybe we could make this a weekly thing or something." Ezra said softly, quickly changing the subject.

"Yeah. Sounds like a good idea, especially to show the boys that we're still really great friends." I said.

"Friends, yeah… just friends." I heard him whisper.

We headed up the porch steps and I turned to see Ezra watching me. Neither of us said anything, as we looked at one another. As much as I want to be with him… I want him to be happy more than anything else. He had put my happiness before us when he sent me to New York and now, it's my turn to put his happiness before our relationship.

"Goodnight beautiful." Ezra said and I nodded as he realized what he said.

"Night." I said and quickly headed inside as Ezra made his way back to his car.

I quietly shut the door and leaned against it. Hearing the car, I looked out the window watched Ezra pull out of the driveway and pull up to the curb across the street. Sighing, I slowly walked into the kitchen and placed our leftovers in the refrigerator. Caitlyn walked in and gave me a small smile, which got me to smile in response.

"Please tell me they didn't wake any of you up." I said, as we headed towards the stairs.

"No, I didn't even know they came inside until I heard Malcolm whispering to Oliver to brush his teeth. We're still all awake anyway, Rosie's in our room making us watch Frozen with her. I know that facial expression, we can talk in the morning if you want." She said.

The boys hurried from the bathroom to their room as we made our way upstairs. I could hear Oliver trying to find his storybook. Walking into their room, I saw that Oliver had taken all his books out of his toy chest to find the storybook

"Can we have two stories mama?" Oliver asked and I shook my head.

"Not tonight baby, it's already way past your bedtime." I said as he crawled into his bed.

Malcolm and I got onto Oliver's bed, and they both snuggled up to me. Opening the storybook, I quickly flipped to the story that I planned on reading tonight. I glanced down at Oliver, who had his thumb in his mouth and looking up at me. Pretty soon, he won't want me to read him bedtime stories anymore… he won't want to be my baby boy anymore. I may have lost Ezra… but I'm not ready to lose my baby yet.

"You know what? This one time you can have an extra story tonight." I said, getting both the boys to get excited.

**AN- Caleb is back in Rosewood! What do you think the secret is that Aria and Hardy are hiding? Let me know what you think it is! You'll find out soon what it is. Do you think Caleb and Chloe will get back together; or is has it been too long? I'm going to do my best to keep uploading.**

**Also, I hope you are all being safe during this time.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Aria's pov

Caleb and I walked out of the bridal store with all the dresses and suits for everyone. Spencer and Toby had transferred the money for everything over to our debit cards, now we just need to figure out if either of us need to get anything else now. Switching my bags to my free hand, Caleb took them from me and I gave him a look.

"Aria?"

Turning around, I saw a petite brunette woman in light pink scrubs, staring at me. It was like she was hoping that it was me she called out to. Something about her seemed… familiar to me somehow, like I've seen her before. But I don't recognize her face at all.

"I thought that was you! Hi, I'm Nicole Gordon… Ezra's girlfriend." She exclaimed.

Hearing her say her name, I felt my stomach knot up. This cannot be happening right now, I'm not ready at all to meet Nicole! Damn it, this needs to be a dream… well a nightmare. I'm just glad Oliver is over at the Brew with Ezra, oh god… what if he met her already?

"Ezra has told me so much about you! I know this isn't how you probably imagined us meeting, but I saw you and just had to come over and meet you." She said.

"Is this your boyfriend?" She asked, motioning to Caleb

"No, this is my friend Caleb." I said quickly.

"Why don't we grab some lunch soon? I'm sure you'd like to get to know me before I meet Oliver, I'd like us to." She suggested

Before I could say anything, something in Nicole's pocket beeped. She quickly pulled it out as I managed to glance over to Caleb and he sensed that I'm not okay. This is the worst place for this to be happening right now.

"I'm sorry, but I have to run. But I'm so glad I got to introduce myself." She said and quickly pulled me into a hug.

The knot in my stomach reached my throat, as I watch her run off. Caleb quickly led me to a little sitting area and sat me down. I pulled my phone out and quickly sent Ezra a text as I felt the tears brimming my eyes.

'_Just met Nicole, she seems great.' _

Caleb wrapped an arm around my shoulders as I sobbed, unable to hold back the tears. I gripped my phone as I felt the pain in my chest throb, breaking my heart even more. Why did this have to happen today, of all days?

"You're going to be okay." Caleb whispered, rubbing my back.

"Tell that to my heart, it's broken in like thirty million tiny pieces." I choked out.

"Why don't you fight for him?" He asked, as I started to compose myself.

"If I do and he chooses me; he could end up resenting me for it. Caleb, he sent me off to New York by myself so I wouldn't end up resenting him or our relationship. How could I not do the same for him?" I asked.

Caleb didn't seem to know how to respond, or maybe he didn't want to upset me more. Sighing, I dropped my phone back into my purse just as it started playing Spencer's ringtone. Fishing my phone back out, I quickly answered.

"We got everything, is there anything else you need us to get?" I said before she could say anything.

"Forget about that right now. I know when you're upset, what is it Aria?" She said.

"I don't really want to talk about it right now. Text me if you want me to get anything else." I said, hanging up.

"Would now be a bad time to tell you that she probably thinks you're lying about us?" Caleb asked, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"If anything, she would've thought that if it was Toby. Back in junior year, Ezra thought there might be something between Toby and me."

We found a little sitting area and sat down, I sighed and Caleb looked at me. So far, Caleb has been I've been the most honest with about all of this. Do the girls know I'm lying about my feelings about everything and just letting me take my time? Why can't I just all this lying and just talk to them about this?

"Around the dance a thon, my old baby-sitter Simone came to town and I became insanely jealous of them. But at the same time, Ezra was just as jealous of Toby."

"Wasn't this when he said he loved you back?" He asked and I nodded.

"Well after the dance a thon, I thought he was going to dump me… you saw how I was that night. Anyway, we ended up arguing and all the jealousy from both of us came out." I said.

"Then the little Squirt came." He finished, and I nodded.

…..

Later that night

I walked up the stairs to Emily and Maya's new apartment with Hanna and Caleb as Ella reminded me that the kids will be alright. Caleb had told me that no one invited Ezra for some reason, but keeps avoiding telling me what the reason is. I just hope they don't plan on shutting him or Nicole out from group activities, it might confuse the boys even more.

"Just don't give Oliver any sugar before bedtime, I mean it mom. Otherwise, he'll be up way too late and you won't be able to get him to sleep." I said.

"Honey, you seem to forget I myself have raised kids. Don't worry, I'm planning on sugaring him up before you come pick him up in the morning." Ella said and hung up.

"Han, do you know why Ezra weren't invited?" I asked, receiving a head shake in response.

"Nope, no idea." She said quickly, as if there was something, she wanted to tell me.

Walking up to the apartment, Maya opened it right away before I could even knock. She pulled us inside excitedly and hugged Caleb. Spencer ran up to me and ushered me towards the side, where no one could hear us.

"Are you okay?" She whispered.

"Can we please talk later?" I asked and she nodded.

I walked over to Caleb and Chloe, who were sitting at the kitchen table. Both of them wanted to see the photo albums that I've been working on ever since freshman year. I started my general NYU one when they sent me my official acceptance letter, then I stated my Zeta Nu Phi Delta album as soon as I had started rushing and met Lauren.

"Did you bring it?" Chloe asked and I nodded, pulling both my albums out of my tote bag.

Sitting down, I opened one to the first photo of Caitlyn and I with all our sorority sisters together. Even though I do want everyone to support Ezra's new relationship, I'm kind of glad they weren't invited tonight. Especially since there's already a lot happening, with Chloe and Caleb hanging out for the first time and the fact Nicole ambushed me at the mall earlier. I'm not sure how much I can handle right now.

"Oh my god, that's so adorable. Who are the older kids?" Chloe asked.

She pointed to a photo of everyone on Halloween. Oliver and Rosie were in front with Layla and Levi, Lauren's younger siblings. Those four loved playing together during meetings, when they were able to come.

"Layla and Levi, Lauren's younger siblings. Their parents died around the time Caitlyn moved in with me, and Lauren was the only living relative they have." I said softly.

"She was going to drop from the sorority and possibly from school, but we all rallied to help her out and to make sure she knew we were there for her. Even if she dropped out, we would all still be there. That's how the Zeta Nu Phi Delta sisters are, sometimes it was insane." Caitlyn said walking over.

Just as I turned the page to one of the winter formals, Ezra walked in… with Nicole. Faking a smile, I waved to them when they saw me. Chloe looked at me and I nodded when they weren't looking. Ezra started introducing Nicole to Spencer and Toby, and I silently took a deep breath. Even though I knew it was a matter of time before Nicole would meet everyone, I wasn't ready for it… I wasn't read to meet her this morning!

"That's Nicole." I whispered to Chloe.

"They started dating AFTER he found out Aria's pregnant." Hardy whispered, joining us.

"Let it go, Hardy M Pierce." I said, a bit louder than I intended.

Everyone else looked over at us confused, and Nicole seemed to know we were talking about her. I avoided looking over at towards them as they walked over to us with Toby, and Spencer looked at me worriedly. Why are they even here? I thought they weren't invited… did someone invite them? But why was I told that they hadn't been invited… what the hell is happening?!

"How was California Caleb?" Chloe asked quickly.

As the words came out of her mouth, my left eye started twitching. Lying to her about Caleb being in California was easier when we were on the phone or texting. But now that we're in person and she still doesn't know the truth, I'm just so tired of all these lies and secrets. But I know that it has to be Caleb who tells her, not me.

"It was good… Aria, you okay? Your left eye is twitching." Caleb said, noticing my eye.

"Probably just an eyelash, I'll be right back." I lied, and quickly got up.

Hurrying to the bathroom, I stared into the mirror. Even though Caleb needs to tell her now, I understand where he's coming from. But why the hell is Ezra here? And why didn't he tell me that he was bringing Nicole with? Gripping the sink, I took a few deep breaths and heard a soft knock.

"Hey, you okay?" Maya asked softly, poking her head in.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I lied.

She looked at me as I tried to hold up my poker face, but she seemed to see right through it. Closing the door, she took my hands in hers and looked deep into my eyes. Something flashed through her eyes, like something in Hanna's voice earlier… like there was something they both wanted to tell me.

"I met her earlier, she had ambushed me at the mall. Why the hell is he here, and with her?" I asked, trying to keep myself from crying.

"Hey, you're the strongest person I know. Somehow… someway, you'll get through this. Aria, you're going to be okay." She said.

"People keep telling me that, but I can't believe that yet." I told her.

I followed her out of the bathroom to see Ezra and Nicole sitting at the table, leaving a single chair for me…. Between Nicole and Chloe. Maya sensed I didn't want to sit next to Nicole, she sat down as Caitlyn walked over to me.

"What dies the M stand for?" Nicole asked Hardy

"He won't tell anyone." Ezra answered.

"Maverick." Caitlyn and I both said.

Ezra looked at us in shock. Hardy only told us because we wouldn't leave him alone about it, and he just wanted us to shut up at the time. But he likes to claim that he only told us because he likes us so much.

"How come they get to know before me?!" Ezra asked, insulted.

"Easy… I like them more." Hardy answered shortly.

I walked over to the fridge and grabbed a water for myself. Closing the door, I saw Hardy next to me and handed him my water as I went back in for a beer for him. Now is not the time for him to be acting like this to Ezra.

"Be nice." I whispered, switching his beer for my water.

"I'm always nice!" He exclaimed, offendedly and I raised an eyebrow at him as Nicole glanced over towards us.

"Riley." I reminded him.

Glancing over at Ezra and Nicole, Hardy took a swig of his beer. I internally sighed, he can be way to protective of me and Caitlyn if we introduce him to any guy friends that we have. And after Jake dumped me, it seemed his protectiveness went haywire or something… especially when he met Riley and we weren't really dating yet.

"I don't live in California, and haven't since sophomore year." Caleb said, standing up.

"What? I don't understand, if you haven't been living in California then where have you've been?" Chloe asked.

"New York. To be honest, I made Aria promise not to tell you… or anyone for that matter." Caleb told her.

As everyone absorbed everything, Caleb's phone rang. Seeing who was calling, he stood up and looked apologetically at everyone. I knew I kept lightly pushing for him to tell the truth, I just didn't realize it'd be tonight that he comes clean about it.

"I have to take this; I'll answer any questions you guys have." He said and quickly made his way towards the front door.

"Chlo, I wanted to tell you ever since I found out. But it wasn't my place to tell you, he had his reasoning for keeping it a secret." I told Chloe as she turned to look at me.

"I'm unsure of when I'll be coming back Rebecca, early July at the earliest. Call you tomorrow." We heard Caleb said.

Watching Chloe's face, I could see the heartbreak in her eyes. Rebecca must be his girlfriend, but he hasn't said anything to me about dating anyone. Maybe he was worried how I would react to him dating, with how it had ended between him and Chloe. Sometimes being Chloe's cousin makes things a bit difficult for Caleb and I to talk about anything.

"Why didn't you tell me you transferred?" Chloe asked as he came back.

"Everything happened right after we broke up, I didn't know if you would speak to me at the time. Plus, I needed to become the man you deserve." He told her.

We all watched as Chloe stood up and walked over to Caleb. I caught Emily's eye and we shared a smile, after the past three years they're finally getting back together. They just need to, no one else could make either of them as happy as they make one another.

"You've always been that man Caleb, and more." Chloe said.

Caleb lifted Chloe's face and as he slowly leaned down to kiss her, she slowly turned her face away before looking up into his eyes.

"What is it?" He asked her as her soft smile turned into a concerned frown.

"What about Rebecca?" Chloe asked quietly

"She's just a co-worker, who does have a small crush on me. But that is all one sided, I've told her multiple times that her feelings could ever be reciprocated. Because someone else already has my heart." He assured her.

As her mouth curved back into a smile, his lips met hers. Watching them reunite, it hurts knowing that I couldn't have the same reunion with Ezra. Both Chloe and Caleb turned to look at us and glanced back at each other.

"Why is everyone watching us?" Chloe asked, looking around at us.

"Because like with Spencer and Toby, I've been there since the get go of your relationship. I get to help Toby propose and get to watch you two get back together." I told her.

…

I got up from my spot between Toby and Emily, and went to go grab another water bottle. Noticing Ezra was following me, I knew that I was going to have to tell him that Hardy knows about the baby. Hopefully he won't say anything about me meeting Nicole.

"I'm sorry you had to meet her that way, that's not how I wanted you to meet her." He whispered, looking into my eyes.

"It's fine Ezra, I was gonna have to meet her sooner or later." I pointed out, avoiding asking why he brought her here.

"You shouldn't have been ambushed, that's the last thing I wanted." He said softly.

"I know. And before you ask about Hardy, he knows that you and Nicole started dating after you found out about the baby." I whispered and he sighed.

"Ar, you know I never-." He started to say, before I cut him off.

"I know Ezra. You told me yourself, that's what I care about. Also, I'm not the one throwing a fit and I thought the only fits I was going to have to deal with were Oliver's." I said quietly.

"So, I need to know what Hardy did to this Riley guy." Ezra said, changing the subject.

"Sophomore year, Riley was dressed like Superman for a party… Hardy took a handful of blue pop rocks candy and threw them at him. YOU'RE lucky he took that well." I said looking at Hardy.

"After what happened with Jake, I didn't trust any guy." Hardy said defensively.

"Oh my god, he broke up with me because I cancelled a date! You need to chill." I said looking at Hardy.

…..

I sat with the girls as we talked about some of our best memories from college. It honestly feels like forever since I've been with all of them, even though we were just all together at Spencer and Toby's the other night. Glancing over to Ezra and Nicole, I caught her taking his hand in hers as he talked about some entitled customer that came into the brew the other day.

"You guys remember how Caitlyn came to live with me in October, freshman year? Well, she came around the time when I thought… I was pregnant with Grayson's baby." I said.

As the words left my mouth, the guys and Nicole all looked over from the kitchen. Even though we had invited Nicole to chat with us, she wouldn't leave Ezra's side for some reason.

"Told you that guy was sketchy!" Toby called from the kitchen and I rolled my eyes.

"Wait… what?" Spencer asked.

"I ended up hooking up with Grayson October sixth, then a few days later all his stuff was gone… along with him and Izzie." I said

"How come you didn't tell me this?" Ezra asked, turning all his attention on me.

"I couldn't." I said.

Looking away from him, I picked up a carrot stick despite not being hungry at all. Sometimes I wish my hookup with Grayson never even happened, but Caitlyn may never had moved in if we hadn't. Because of it, Hardy and I have Caitlyn and Oliver has Rosie.

"You know you could tell me anything Ar." Ezra said, walking over and sitting next to me.

"How was I supposed to? I thought I was pregnant with another guys' baby! How do you think I felt?" I said, hoping he would drop it.

"You said you weren't going to hook up with him. Ar, why didn't you tell me?" He asked again.

"I had been missing you like crazy at the time Ezra! What could I have said huh? 'I miss you so much that I ended up hooking up with my roommate and now I think I'm carrying his child.' Is that what you wanted to hear?" I asked annoyed.

Quickly standing up, I realized I just said that in front of Nicole and hurried towards the kitchen. Toby held out a beer for me, as I walked into the kitchen and I shook my head. Even though almost everyone else knows about the baby, I'm not sure how Toby will react about it with Ezra being with Nicole. It's hard enough with Hardy wanting to kill Ezra over it. Sensing I needed something else, he handed me a water and I gave him a small smile.

"Okay… I'm bored, we should say who we would hook up with. Toby and Aria, quit making out and join us." Maya called.

Toby and I looked at one another before looking at Maya, who could clearly see us. Rolling our eyes, we walked back to the living room and I sat down between Caitlyn and Spencer. Ezra was watching me, and I felt award now that he knows about Grayson. Maybe I should have told him, there's the other thing too… But I don't ever want to hurt him with it, but I know he deserves to know.

"Let's say we're all single and in another universe, who would we all want to have a drunk hookup with. Aria and Spencer, you cannot pick Ryan Reynolds or Jake Gyllenhaal." Hanna chirped from her chair

"I'm hooking up with myself, this is too weird for me." Ezra piped in, taking a sip of his beer.

"That's not a hookup, that's a masturbation session." Hardy pointed out, getting me and Caitlyn laughing.

"Go ahead and tell us then, who would you pick Hardy?" Toby asked

"Well, I'll take one for the team and pick Aria." He said.

"No." I joked as Ezra said it aggressively.

Caitlyn and I both looked over to Ezra, while Nicole seemed a bit uncomfortable with how quick Ezra was to shoot it down. Everyone seemed to look around then at what was happening in front of them, I wish I could do the same.

"It's a parallel universe, you don't get a say in it." I told him, and Nicole seemed to relax a bit more.

"As long as you don't make out with Cait beforehand like last time." Hardy said.

**AN- Don't hate me too much for this cliff hanger, I'll be posting the next chapter as soon as I can. But the secret between Aria and Hardy is officially out- there's still more to it. What do you think will happen? Let me know what your theories are! And I'm going to be letting you guys help me, more to come on that soon.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Aria's pov

_Previously _

"_As long as you don't make out with Cait beforehand like last time." Hardy said._

And now,

Just as we realized what he said, Ezra glared at him. Everyone looked shocked and confused all at the same, except for Caitlyn and Hanna. No one knew what to say or even really knew what the hell is happening.

"You and Caitlyn made out?" Maya asked quickly and I nodded.

"What the hell did you just say?" Ezra asked, glaring at Hardy.

"I always thought Aria and Spencer would have a drunken make out session." Caleb said, trying to keep the conversation on me and Caitlyn.

Realizing that Ezra wasn't going to let up, I internally cursed myself for being a coward and not telling him when it first happened like Hardy thought we should. Feeling the tears of guilt, I avoided Ezra's face and looked over at Hardy.

"I didn't say anything, you're hearing things again man." Hardy tried; I shook my head at him.

"Hardy, just stop. There's no point in trying to cover it, the cat's out of the bag now." I said.

Sighing, I looked over at Ezra. I could see both pain and anger in his eyes, along with some denial. The tears fell as I realized the words, that I've been dreading to say to him all these years were about to come out at last.

"Aria?" Ezra choked out, looking at me and my own eyes filled with tears.

"It's true… but nothing happened! We realized what we were about to do, and that we couldn't do that to you." I cried.

Ezra glared at me, as everyone else was dead silent. I felt my heart break, watching Ezra's facial expression and seeing the pain take over the anger in his eyes.

"When?" He asked, not looking at either of us.

"March of Sophomore year." I whimpered.

Ezra glared at us with tears brimming his eyes. Without saying a word, he stood up and headed into the kitchen and Hardy quickly got up to follow him. I felt frozen in place as the tears fell down my face, unable to force myself to get up and follow them.

"Please let us explain." Hardy said, as he made his way towards Ezra.

All of a sudden, Ezra spun around and sucker punched him in the face. Everyone else gasped as I rushed over with Toby and Caleb. Even though it was Hardy that received the punch, I feel like Ezra probably wished it was me.

"YOU KEPT THIS FROM ME FOR THE PAST TWO AND A HALF YEARS?" Ezra yelled at me.

"Yes." I choked out, feeling like I couldn't breathe.

"YOU'RE THE ONE I WANT TO BE SPENDING THE REST OF MY LIFE WITH AND YOU GO FUCK MY BEST FRIEND!" He yelled.

Glaring at me, he turned and stormed out without another word. Without a second thought, I ran after him. I couldn't get his words out of my head, I'm the one he wanted to be with, but he's with Nicole? Wait… now is not the time to confuse myself on that even more.

"Let me explain." I cried.

"I don't want to hear it!" He snapped.

"Ezra, please wait! I get why you're pissed, I know-." I called after him.

I ran down the stairs as fast as I could, after him. As we got to the street, he turned around and I've never seen him so hurt and angry before. Tears fell from my eyes as I tried to find my voice, he spoke up before I could.

"Oh! Your wife screwed your best friend too?" He asked angrily.

"I didn't sleep with Hardy! Just listen to me… please! I'll tell you what happened." I begged.

_Flashback _

_Aria's pov – (March, Sophomore Year)_

_I looked around, seeing Hanna flirt with one of the guys from the football team. Then I saw Hardy and Caitlyn were by the door, clearly in their own little world together. Riley was still in Queens with his family, and even though Caleb is in Brooklyn, that's too far away to ask him to come just for a party. Lauren, my sorority big sister came over and joined me on one of the couches._

"_Here, you seem in need of a big and strong drink." Lauren said, handing me a tall glass of long island._

"_It's not going to help my homesickness, or any of my problems." I said._

"_We both know I'm not letting you sit here and sulk alone." She told me._

_Lauren gave me a look and I knew she was serious. Anyone in Zeta Nu Phi Delta, could make me feel so safe when I'm with any of them. Before I could say anything, some wealthy douchelord named Brett came over. He's like Noel… and I'm actually shocked about this – but worse._

"_Bet you two hundred dollars, that either you cannot chug three bottles of Guinness in under five minutes." Brett said, I rolled my eyes as Lauren scoffed loudly, catching Hardy's attention._

"_Leave us alone, don't you have anything better to do Brett?" Lauren asked as Hardy appeared_

"_It's supposed to be a party, so let's have some fun ladies." He tried._

"_You heard them, leave them alone… Brett." Hardy said quietly._

_Brett looked at us then at Hardy before walking off, probably in search of someone who would sleep with him later on. Luckily, no one in Brett's frat would ever let him near any sorority girl… or any girl for that matter. Everyone knows that Brett is literally the stereotypical fuck boy, and obviously no one would wanna sleep with him._

"_Okay, one of you fucking date this guy!" Zoe yelled at me and Caitlyn._

"_I'm dating Riley! Let these two take their time!" I shouted back._

_Glancing over at Hardy and Caitlyn, I noticed their faces turning bright red in embarrassment. We all know that both she and Hardy were totally into each other, but they were taking their time with whatever is going to happen between them. I'm all for them taking their time, especially knowing Hardy's past in the relationship department. Seeing everyone else have a good time, I tuned Lauren out and chugged my drink._

"_I'm getting another drink." I said, standing up._

…_.._

_Some guys were cheering me on as I chugged another long island, I think its my twonth one. Caitlyn appeared with Hanna just as I finished. I missed seeing them, everyone… I miss Ezra._

"_Aria we're saying this love, you're cut off." Hanna said._

"_Do – don - don't be a buzz killer!" I told her._

"_You've already had more drinks combined in the five long islands you've been drinking. Plus, somehow you managed to do two shots of tequila. Come on, there's some pizza waiting for you." Caitlyn said._

"_I'm happy again… don't take it away!" I said, crossing my arms._

_Hanna took my hand and took me over to some pizza, I love pizza! I saw Ezra standing over by the food and ran towards him. As he turned around, I crash my lips to his._

_End of Flashback _

"But then I realized he wasn't you. In our drunken states, we both knew what was about to happen and that we couldn't do that to you. Ezra… we never wanted to hurt you like that. Hardy wanted to tell you, but I convinced him that telling you would only hurt you… the way I know you're hurting right now. I was wrong to keep it a secret." I said.

"Of all the people at the party, my best friend. I can't even look at you right now, or want to. Nothing you just said changes the fact you were about to sleep with my best friend!" He said and walked off.

I watch him and Nicole walk down the street and sighed. Turning around, I saw Caitlyn waiting by the door of the building. As she started heading back up, I sat down on the stairs. She sat down next to me, and I rested my head on her shoulder/

"I completely deserved that reaction. Especially since I didn't tell him when it happened, why do I keep lying and keeping secrets like when I was in high school?" I asked, but she knew I wasn't looking for an actual answer.

"You didn't tell him the other reason you were completely wasted that night?" She asked.

"I'm not going to try to excuse what I did. But you should've kicked my ass that night." I told her.

"You were really struggling with leaving Ezra and upset about your encounter with Byron, and I knew that you had believed that Hardy was him when it all started… we all knew that." She told me

I sighed, and headed up the stairs with her. We walked back into the apartment, everyone stared at us in silence. Hardy held a small ice pack to his mouth, where Ezra had punched him. I didn't say anything as I leaned against the door and looked at everyone, they're hiding something too and I need to know what it is.

"I know you're all lying to me about why Ezra wasn't invited. Spill it." I said.

"To reunite you two." Toby said, I covered my face with my hands and groaned.

"It's over between us, you need to get used to it. Besides, even if Nicole wasn't in the picture... I just lost him completely!" I snapped, then looked at Hardy

"Hardy, you were right. We should've told him when it happened, keeping it secret only made it worse." I said.

"But did anyone think to how it would affect me? Telling me that he hadn't been invited and out of the blue he walks through the door AND WITH HER like that? Add the fact that I was ambushed into meeting her just this morning!" I asked everyone, with tears brimming my eyes.

Did they seriously think that their plan would actually work? Life isn't a fucking fairytale; life... it sucks and sometimes it's painful. I've been learning that these past few days, especially when Nicole ambushed me this morning. Keeping the secret from Ezra… that's the worst thing I have ever done to him.

"We weren't expecting him to bring Nicole." Maya said softly.

"Hey, I'm gonna crash at my mom's tonight. Staying with you guys right now is probably a bad idea." I told Caitlyn.

She nodded as I walked out of the apartment. Walking down the stairs, I heard someone running out of the apartment after me. I stopped on the landing, and turned around to see it was Hanna.

"Aria wait! I swear I wanted to tell you, Maya too. Stay with me, we could talk about what happened tonight. Or we could eat ice cream and watch chick flicks" Hanna said, following me down the stairs and towards her car.

…..

A few weeks

Chloe and I were sitting at one of the tables in the grille, today has been like a ghost town here. I looked at my phone, even though I knew there would be no messages from Ezra. He hasn't spoken to me ever since finding out about me and Hardy. He's only spoken a few words to me, and that's just when the boys are around. Other than that, I communicate with him through Nicole. Frankly, I don't blame him… I broke all the trust he had in me.

"Have you talked to Caitlyn and Hardy about this?" Chloe asked.

I shook my head as we looked at one of the apartments that I was looking into. With everything that's happened, it's probably best that I find my own place. Plus, it hurts seeing him with Nicole and being both close and far from him.

"I will, it just needs to be at the right time." I said softly.

"Are my eyes deceiving me, Aria Montgomery is that you?"

We looked up to see Chloe's other older brother Josh walking in. I got up and went to give him a hug, it feels life forever since I've seen him. The last time I saw him… it was before Mona kidnapped me and Toby.

"Oh my god, Josh?! The last time I saw you, you were headed off to Philadelphia for that advertisement job." I said, getting up to give him a hug.

"And you were heavily pregnant with Oliver." He said.

"I love that you're here Josh, but why are you here?" Chloe asked.

He joined us at the table and looked at us. Either my eyes are deceiving me, or he has gotten cuter in the past five years. I remember having a crush on him back when I first met him and Chloe. While Graham was doing all the sports he could, Josh was the vice president of the video game development club and part of the red cross club.

"I was fired, and wanted to come home for a little bit. Just while I figure out what I'm doing next." He said.

"Then, you can help out around here with Aria" Chloe said and Josh looked over at me

"I'd love to." He said, looking at me.

I hoped neither of them could see how warm I felt. When I first met Josh, I had the biggest crush on him and he knew of it. It's actually so embarrassing with how obvious I was with my crushes back then, was it less or more obvious with Noel or when Ezra and I in the beginning of our relationship? My phone beeped, and I saw that it was my reminder about my OBGYN appointment on Friday. I took a deep breath and texted Ezra.

'_Look, I know you hate me right now. But I have the ultrasound appointment on Friday at 11:30. That is, if you do want to come._'

I looked at the thumbs up emoji Ezra sent me and sighed. Obviously, these past two weeks haven't done anything to help him cool down. But I get why he's still so angry at me, I would be too if I were in his shoes. Hopefully, we can talk on Friday.


	8. Chapter 8

_**AN – Before you read this chapter, I just want to let you know that there are mentions/implications of child neglect and psychological abuse. If that could trigger in anyway, please do not read the flashback.**_

Chapter 8 - Friday

Aria's pov

Walking outside, Ezra saw me and got inside his car before leaving. I headed to my car and quickly got in, leaving for work when he does is really awkward right now. I glanced at the time and started my car, with no luck and smoke started coming out of the hood of my car. This cannot be happening right now – or today of all days! I have to get to work before I have my appointment, luckily Chloe said I could have a longer lunch hour due to my appointment.

"Crap." I groaned.

I felt the tears running down my, I repeatedly hit my steering wheel and accidentally blaring my horn. Getting out of the car, I walked to the hood as Caitlyn came running out with Hardy behind her. I stared at them in confusion as Caitlyn pulled me towards the sidewalk and Hardy opened my hood. Caleb hurried out of Chloe's house and ran over.

"There's something wrong with the engine or something." Hardy said, trying to wave the smoke away and I internally cursed my car.

"Don't want to worry you, but you may want to start looking for a new car. I'll try everything I can to fix it… but it may not be fixable." Hardy told me and I sighed.

This car has been with me since I came back to Rosewood back from Iceland, and Ella somehow convinced Byron to get me a car. Besides giving up his parental rights, buying this car for me and Mike was one of the few good things he ever did for us. There been so many milestones in this car; both Mike and I got our licenses, Oliver said his first word, and Malcolm told me his crush in third grade.

"This was my very first car, it's where all the milestones happened." I cried.

….

Caleb looked at me as Dr. Hall looked through all the paperwork and the bloodwork results. I forgot how much happens at the first appointment, but I'm so thankful Caleb's here with me. Even though I tried to tell myself he wouldn't do it, Ezra hadn't shown up for the appointment without a single word. Luckily, Caleb wanted to be the peacekeeper between us, now I'm not doing this alone. How could Ezra not show up for our unborn child? Today wasn't about either of us or the mistake I made… but OUR baby and their development!

"According to everything you told me and the bloodwork, the baby was conceived on March 25th. You're about nine weeks right now, and the due date is estimated to be around December 20th." Dr. Hall told me, smiling.

She didn't to tell me the conception date, there have been no other times. Ezra has been the only guy I've been with, after Riley. I never had the heart to date anyone else, I just wanted to be with Ezra… and sadly, Riley seemed to notice that and the fact we were better off as friends. Did he hate me that much that he couldn't even show up for our unborn baby?

"Now, are you ready for the best part?" She asked and I nodded.

"This is going to be a little cold." She added.

I gasped, feeling the cold gel on my stomach. As Dr. Hall moved the wand around on my stomach, I stared at awe at my baby on the monitor screen. The realization that Ezra chose not to come to see our baby's development hit me, and I felt the tears form in my eyes. Did he hate me that much that he would stand our child up that easily? But would he do it again, or to Oliver?

"The baby is perfectly healthy, and growing right on schedule. You two must be very excited!" Dr. Hall suggested.

"Oh, no, he's not- we're not… The father couldn't make it today." I said quickly.

"I am so sorry about that!" She said, embarrassed.

"That's alright. But, is it too soon to learn the baby's sex already?" I asked and she nodded.

Even though I don't want Ezra to miss out on knowing whether we're having a boy or a girl, I kind of wanted to know, just to rub it in his face… am I terrible person to want that?

…..

Caleb opened the door to the Grille for me and I stopped dead in my tracks, there was Ezra was having lunch by himself. As I felt my blood boil, Ezra looked up from his food and saw me glaring. Before Chloe or Caleb could stop me, I stormed over towards him.

"If you didn't want to come, you could've just told me! Or did I misinterpret your little thumbs up? Why don't I just act like I don't know who the father is and save the baby from heartache!" I asked angrily

"Aria!" He exclaimed

"Oh, now you wanna talk to me? Well too bad, you don't get to talk! You said you would be there, then you don't show up without a word. This is your child just as much as it is mine! I am NOT going to let my kids know the pain Mike and I went through. So, don't play games now and let me know if you want to be a part of this baby's life." I snapped.

Before either Ezra or I could say anything, Chloe whispered something to Caleb. He nodded before resting a hand on my back. Without saying another word, he quickly led me outside and back into his car. I took a few deep breaths as I tried to keep myself from crying.

"I'm sorry." I choked out.

"Don't apologize, he should have told you whether he was coming or not. Just give yourself and him a little time to cool off, then talk to him. Just remember that even though today was about the baby, there are still a lot of things unsaid right now." He said softly.

….

Toby and I looked at each other as my phone beeped. Spencer was focused on the jeopardy marathon we've been watching all day after Caleb dropped me off here to cool down. Spencer agreed that I should wait until I have calmed down to try talking to Ezra again. Seeing the text, I knew this would completely change Spencer's life.

'_Aria? I believe I've arrived; they live at 1784 Orchard Lane correct?'_

'_Yes, Toby will let you in.' I sent back_

Toby looked over at me and I nodded, Operation – 'make Spencer's second dream come true' is now in effect. As Toby snuck over by the door, I walked in front of the tv and looked at Spencer to get her attention.

"I have a belated birthday present for you! Years ago, I made you a promise… and I have never broken a promise to you before. Toby, show our lucky winner what's behind door one!"

Toby opened the door, and Alex walked in. Spencer slowly stood up, staring at Alex in shock as she comprehended what was happening. It was like we cloned one of them, but the only difference was that Alex had shoulder length beach waved hair with side bangs.

"I found your sister, Alex." I said excitedly.

"Oh my god." They said together.

Toby and I moved to the kitchen, so Alex and Spencer could have their moment. We sat down at the table, we smiled as we watched as Spencer led Alex over to the couch. They were crying tears of joy as they reunited.

"Wow, it's like seeing double!" Toby joked quietly as the doorbell rang.

As Toby went to answer the door, I walked towards the refrigerator to look for the baby carrots. Placing my hand on my stomach, I quietly sighed. Maybe I was too harsh on Ezra, he has a right to his feelings and I did break his trust by not telling him about almost hooking up with Hardy.

"Aria, you have a visitor." Toby called out.

Setting down the bag of baby carrots, I headed over to the door to see Ezra standing on the porch. Toby gave me a reassuring smile as I stepped out onto the porch. What now, I'm not in a mood to argue if that's why he came. But maybe I can offer some peace for today, if he'll accept it.

"Hi." I said closing the door behind me.

"Hey." He responded.

Neither of us said anything, we just stood there and stared at each other. He sat down on one of the porch chairs, I took a deep breath before sitting on the chair next to his.

"It took a lot for me to come over, I'm just going to come out and say it. Maybe this is all a sign, we're not the same people we were when we met anymore. I think its best we sign the divorce papers." He said and I stood back up.

"If that's what you want. We both knew that it was only a matter of time." I said started to head inside

"The sad thing is that years ago, we would've fought to save our relationship." I heard him say, and I turned to face him.

"Well, we don't have a relationship anymore. And like you said, we're not the same people we used to be. But I honestly thought I was protecting you by not telling you, and I'm so sorry about that."

"You can't change the past, now can you?" He snarked out.

"I'm tired of all the fighting Ezra, what do you want me to do to prove that I'm sorry?" I asked, standing up.

Turning to head back inside, he took my hand in his and I silently sighed. It's been forever since he's held my hand… I miss it and him. But we obviously cannot go back to where we used to be… even though it was only a few weeks ago, that I told him I was pregnant and we were happy to be together.

"Aria, wait." He begged.

Taking my hand back, I sat back down and crossed my arms. He looked at me and I couldn't get myself to look away, damn I hate that he can suck me in with those blue eyes of his.

"I owe you an apology. You expected me there, and I let you down completely by not showing up. I put my own feelings about… what happened, before our unborn child." He said.

"Then why did you?" I asked quietly.

"Because, it still kills me to think about what almost happened between you two. Ar, I know that one fear running through your mind. I promise that I am not going to become Byron. I want to be able to talk to you and Hardy about what did or did not happen between the two of you, but I'm just not in that place yet." He said softly.

"I was stupidly drunk that night and honestly believed Hardy was you. But if I could go back in time and change everything that happened at the party I would." I told him.

"Wait, what do you mean you thought Hardy was me?" He asked shocked.

"I only saw the back of his head, which in my state looked a lot like yours. You'd think I thought it looked like Riley's head." I said softly.

"I honestly meant what I said that night… you know, about us." He whispered.

All of a sudden, he gently cupped my face and his lips brushed up onto mine. Without a second thought, I slowly pulled away and looked through the window to see the top of Toby's head. All of this is too confusing for me, he's mad at me – yet he kisses me? He couldn't look at me that night, but he says wants to spend the rest of his life with me the same night? He's with Nicole now, he shouldn't be kissing me… even though I miss being able to kiss him whenever.

"I should get back inside and you shouldn't be kissing me." I said quickly.

Before he could say anything, I quickly rose and hurried back inside to see Spencer and Alex on the couch. Toby was getting himself a snack in the kitchen. I snuck past them, and headed over towards Toby.

"Is everything okay between you two?" Toby whispered.

"I don't want to talk about it right now." I said softly.

"So, how did Aria find you?" Spencer asked.

Hearing Spencer ask that, Toby and I headed back into the living room and sat on the love seat. Pretty ironic because five years ago, Ezra had believed that there was actually something romantic between Toby and myself. Despite all our plans for the future, now there is nothing between Ezra and I.

"I was working in this little pub in London, when she walked in one Friday night. The moment she saw me, she screamed bloody loud. I thought the girl was bladdered – sorry, drunk in American terms. She insisted I was you, and I ended up having to show her my ID to prove I was in fact… not you." Alex said.

"I bet Aria's little Sparia heart was shattered." Toby said, slightly teasing me and I gently nudged him.

"She was quite gutted… disappointed." Alex agreed.

"How come you didn't tell me sooner?" Spencer asked, looking at me.

"Spence, after twenty-two years you still cannot grasp the concept of a surprise can you?" I teased her.

"Alex, how did you learn about Spencer?" Toby asked

"When I went to university, I begun searching for Charlotte. My adoptive parents helped me with my search, and have been supportive of everything. They even offered to bring her to England for a visit, and when she came… she told me everything about you." Alex said, looking over at Spencer.

"Wait a minute, if you were with Jessica… how come you weren't with them when they moved to rosewood before Kindergarten?" Spencer asked confused

"I'll never forget … it was the day I ran away from that hell hole." Alex said.

_Flashback – July 4__th__ 1999_

_Alex's pov_

"_Alexandra Jordan Drake downstairs now!" I heard daddy yell._

_I dropped my dollies and ran downstairs to see Alison sitting on the couch, looking at me smugly. Daddy looked really mad when he saw me and I knew that she blamed me for something AGAIN and I was in trouble for it, but I hadn't done anything bad._

"_Yes daddy?" I asked._

"_Do you care to explain why your sister just told me you just broke the very expensive lamp in the den?" He yelled as Ali gave me that evil smile of hers._

"_I didn't break it daddy, I was playing with my dollies. Kelly is very angsty about her big case in court today." I told him._

"_Do not lie to me Alexandra, why did you break the lamp?" He demanded._

_I wish Cece hadn't left to go stay with Aunt Debbie to go to that fancy smart people school, or at least brought me with. Cece is the only one who really loves me, or even cares that I exist. No one else seems to, Daddy and Alison are always against me. Mommy ignores me most of the time, as does Jason._

"_And Kelly is MY doll Alex! You're a dollie stealer!" Alison yelled._

"_Nuh uh! I had Stephanie at first then you wanted her and so daddy had us switch!" I yelled back._

"_That is the first honest thing to come out of your mouth young lady. I'm not going to ask you again, now tell me why you broke the lamp." Daddy demanded_

"_I promise I didn't break it." I tried._

"_That's it Alexandra! I've had it with your lies, go to your room right now Alexandra! And don't think you're going to see the fireworks tonight." He yelled and I ran back towards my room._

…_.._

_I watched as daddy sat Ali on his shoulders as they left to go see the fireworks. Mommy didn't even want to hear anything I had to say when she came home, But I think it's because daddy made sure he got to her first. Why did they take me from my real mommy if they didn't want me? Why don't they want me… what did I do that makes them hate me? I'm such a bad girl so mommy and daddy want to leave me at a fire station now? Or they know I really am a good girl and I get to ride in a firetruck…. But Ali wouldn't let that happen. Plus, daddy said he would leave me there in another town!_

"_Maybe if I runaway, they'll realize they do love me!" I told Clyde, my stuffed monkey that Jason and Cece gave me for my birthday._

_Looking out the window, I saw everyone was already gone. I picked up Clyde and ran upstairs to mine and Ali's room. Her big bed took up most of our room, as did most of her toys that was mine until she decided she wanted them and daddy gave her them. Even though she has the big soft bed, mommy and daddy still let her climb into their bed and stay there all night if she gets scared. But if I get scared, they only let me stay until I fall back asleep… then they leave me in the hallway. It's not fair! I don't know how babies are made yet, but they make it very clear that Alison is their favorite because they made her somehow. _

"_Maybe I can find my real mommy. Or whoever this Peter guy is, he seems important if they didn't want me to meet him." I suggested to Clyde._

_I opened one of my drawers and threw all my clothes on my bed. It was all of Cece's old clothes from when she was my age. Alison gets all the new things, but I like having the hand-me-downs… especially from Cece. _

"_Lot of movies and tv show how to run away from home. If they can do it, so can I!" I said happily._

_I got both my mickey mouse and the tweety bird suitcase that Ali took from me when we were picking them out in at the store for our move; out from under my bed. Daddy will just buy Alison another one, he always does. She gets everything she wants… except for my monkey and favorite green striped shirt that Cece gave me before she left for her fancy school. I threw all my favorite clothes into my bags, along with my toys, coloring books, crayons, and most importantly – my blankie and my pillow._

"_You're awfully quiet Clyde, they don't care about us and maybe this will show them that they do." I said, looking at him sitting on my bed._

_I changed into my overalls and my green striped shirt. The one nice thing Ali ever did for me was not want this shirt, otherwise she would've gotten it even though Cece promised it to me. Looking at our dollies on the ground, I picked up Kelly and Stephanie and put them in my bag too. Along with the secret stash of candy. Daddy will buy Ali more dollies, and she gets to keep the other dollies… it's only fair that I get these two. I think she only wanted them because they're my favorites, she always wants whatever my favorite is of anything._

"_Let's get going Clyde." I said, picking him up as the fireworks began._

_ End of flashback (Back to Aria's pov)_

None of us knew what to say, how could the Dilaurentis family not care about Alex at all? Alison, I could understand. But how could they just treat her so horrible like they had? She was only a little girl, who didn't get to know that she had a sister- a twin sister.

"They made sure I knew I was the adopted one, especially Alison and Kenneth. But I never got to figure out why Aunty Jess took me from mum, when she didn't even like me." Alex said softly.

"Apparently, she felt bad about wronging mom. But I learned that from Alison, so it might be a lie." Spencer said.

I looked between the two of them, they were deprived of being sisters. And all because Veronica and Jessica were mad about Peter being with Mary, these two didn't deserve to be separated like that. And the way Kenneth and Jessica treated Alex… I know for a fact that Jessica got her karma from everything. But Alex and Spencer are together now, and that's all that matters now.

**AN – I know everyone hated the Alex storyline – but I'm going my own way with Alex/Spencer. Do you guys think Aria/Ezra are going to have a boy or a girl? Let me know if you think it'll be a boy or a girl, and let me know your guesses for Spoby's baby as well! Stay tuned; we'll learn more about Alex and her past/ life next chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Aria's pov

Alex was unpacking her things upstairs, since Spencer wouldn't let her spend any money on a hotel. As I tried looking through the channels to see what else to put on for the time being, Spencer took the remote and I looked over at her.

"What happened when Ezra came by?" Spencer asked.

"He brought up divorce papers; and I'm not going to fight him on it. He's in a serious relationship now, and still hurt from my betrayal. But then he told me that he meant wanting me to be the one he spends the rest of his life with and now I'm confused… about everything." I said.

Toby walked over sat down next to me. As I opened my bottle of water, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and I looked at him. Alex came back downstairs and I was glad that we could go back to talking about Alex and Spencer instead of my obviously failed relationship with Ezra.

"Your fiancée is over there if you're searching for snuggles, Tobias." I pointed out to him, pointing to Spencer.

"I'm well aware, but you seem sad and desperate." He said.

"Did he just call his sister desperate?" Alex asked, and I held back a laugh.

"Not in that way, but he has before." Spencer told her.

As I leaned back into the couch, I rested my head on Toby's shoulder. Everything between me and Ezra… it's so confusing. He says he wants to be with me forever, but he's dating Nicole. If he was giving me mixed signals when we first started seeing each other, then these mixed signals are going to be even worse.

"Alex, if Cece knew about you… how come she never mentioned anything?" Toby asked.

"They told her I got hit by a car and died on impact. She figured it would've been useless to tell you about a twin that you could never meet. Well, I don't remember much after I left the house that night. But I do remember that after an hour or so, I came across this police officer Colin O'Neal. He and his family took such great care of me, and I'll always be grateful for them." Alex said.

"Did Colin adopt you?" I asked, she shook her head.

"They wanted to, due to financial problems and lack of space… they couldn't. But even though I had refused to tell them anything … I think they knew. But even though they couldn't adopt me, Colin and his wife Erin promised to keep in touch with me. Even after I was adopted by my parents, and moved to England." She continued.

How could Mr. and Mrs. Dilaurentis actually treat Alex the way they had? Mrs. D felt bad enough about wronging her sister enough to take her child in, but then treat the child like crap? I don't believe she felt bad, I bet it was because Peter loved Mary instead of her and she just wanted what Mary had. But Alex was only a child and anything could have happened when she ran off. Despite never even knowing each other or about the other, Spencer and Alex are together now… the way it should have been for all these years.

…

The next day

_I screamed in pain as another contraction hit, and I looked over to see Alison holding my hand instead of Ezra. As she gave me a sickening sweet smile, I realized it wasn't the typical delivery room at the hospital but the shed._

"_What the hell are you doing here and where's Ezra?" I yelled, unable to stop pushing._

"_Oh, don't you remember when I showed you that he stopped the search for you? It was too hard for the boys, and no one really cared anyway." Alison said._

_Staring at her, I screamed as I felt another contraction hit. How could Ezra not care about me or our baby? I leaned back as the contraction went away and Mona looked up from at edge of the bed. What the hell is happening? No one cared that I was missing and Ezra even stopped the search for me? Didn't he care even a little bit about me anymore?_

"_You forgot to tell her about our deal with Fitz. We're going to bring him the baby tonight, then we're going to kill you." Mona piped up._

_Another contraction hit and I screamed; knowing that as soon as my baby is born, and I'll be dead. Are they planning on terrorizing my children about this? My child is going to grow up…. And without –_

I bolted up from my nightmare, I felt the nausea and quickly hurried to the bathroom. I could hear someone headed this way, but I couldn't tell who it was by their footsteps. The door slowly opened and I knew it was Caitlyn by the fact she quickly kneeled down next to my and pulled my hair back. Four years of sorority parties, I've learned to know who's holding my hair back when my face is in the toilet.

"God. I. Hate. This. Part." I managed between heave.

"I know, but it's always worth it in the end." She reminded me as I finished and flushed the toilet.

"Remember how I told you about the day I went into labor with Oliver? Well, I had a nightmare that was back there… apparently for my entire pregnancy. Part of me knew that it was a dream, but I couldn't get myself to wake up. No one cared if I went miss-." I said until she cut me off

"Dream or reality, do not ever think no one would care. I know things with Ezra right now are rocky, but he wouldn't stop looking for you. Dream Alison was just trying to upset you, don't let her win." She told me.

Neither of us said anything as I washed my hands, and we made our way down to the kitchen. Coffee sounds so good right about now… but with how I reacted to coffee when I was pregnant with Oliver, I'm not taking any chances.

"I used to believe that Ezra and I were going to make it in the end. But the fact that he's with Nicole now and I never told him about that night, there is no chance for us ever. We went from blissfully finding out I'm pregnant again, to staying separated and him hating my guts. Now I'm just going to be a single mother, how am I supposed to do it on my own?" I said softly

"Hey, you've been doing it on your own for the past four years and damn you did one hell of a job. But we're in Rosewood now, Ezra is here and he's going to be there for you and the kids." Caitlyn said

"How could he be there for this baby when he was barely there for Oliver?" I cried.

"Because he's not stupid enough to do it again." She told me.

I sighed, looking through the window and watched Ezra talking with Nicole on the front porch. Okay, I almost slept with Hardy and never told him or really planning on it. But he did the same thing about his past relationship with Alison, we worked through it! We're soulmates and he cannot just ignore that, just throw it all away… and for what? My phone indicated that I had an email, I opened my email to see that Carrie Emerson had emailed me with the subject as 'ASAP'. Clicking on the email, I gasped.

'_Hello Aria, I hope everything is well with you and little Ollie. I am sending you this email as an invitation, to come to London once more and work alongside me on a novel. You were such a pleasure to work with, and I'd would be thrilled to write this novel with you. Please let me know as soon as you can if you accept my invitation, and please tell little Ollie I say hello. – Sincerely, Carrie Emerson.'_

I stared at my phone in shock, Carrie wants to work with me AGAIN and on a novel! How is this real? As much as I would love to, there's no way that I could go. Especially with Spencer and Toby's wedding coming up in a few weeks, things still aren't great between me and Ezra, let alone Oliver is already settled down here. Plus, I'm not going to just up and leave my kids for the summer and I'd be there for most of my pregnancy if not the entire time.

"What is it?" Caitlyn asked.

"Carrie Emerson invited me back to London… to write a novel with her." I said.

"Oh my god, I'm so happy for you!" She squealed.

"Thank Cait, but I'm not going. With the wedding in a few weeks, and the fact things still aren't one hundred percent between me and Ezra. I can't go. Besides, Oliver has barely seen Ezra these past four years, I couldn't just pack him up or just leave him." I told her.

"Let's say you don't go, what if this is a once in a lifetime opportunity?" She asked carefully.

"I already had mine when she chose me to work alongside her last summer. Although coming home has been completely different than what I had thought it would be, I'm not leaving again." I said.

'_Dear Ms. Emerson, thank you so much for your invitation to return and work with you once more. You have no idea how much it means to me, that you want to work with me again. But as much as I would love to accept, I must politely decline. My brother is getting married soon, and then there's Oliver. I couldn't just pack him up and take him so far from his father again for however long, nor could I leave him behind. Last summer, it meant everything to me to work with you. Again, thank you so much for the invitation. – yours truly, Aria Fitz.'_

Clicking send, I sighed and glanced over at Caitlyn. As much as I would love to work with Carrie on an actual novel, how could I just leave when things are barely okay between me and Ezra? And then Oliver's birthday is coming up after the wedding, it's bad enough Ezra missed one birthday… he can't miss another.

"If we can work out our problems when I learned about his relationship with Alison and the book… we could do it again. He even said that I'm the one he wants to spend the rest of his life with, and he's the one I want to be with forever too!" I said, looking across the street again.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Caitlyn asked, sipping on her coffee.

"It's only a matter of time before -." I said trailing off as I looked through the window again.

Looking across the street, I saw as Ezra kissed Nicole before getting in his car. Caitlyn walked over to and wrapped her arms around me. How could I fight for him? He's obviously happy with Nicole, he wouldn't have started dating her if he wasn't. Sending me off to New York, he did that for me… for the future of our relationship.

"No… it was just a stupid thought." I said.

Without saying another word, I started heading upstairs. What was I thinking? This is completely different from what we went through years ago, he never almost slept with Alison. He asked Hardy to take care of me… not almost drunkenly hook up with me, then not tell him for two and a half years. Just as I made it to the top of the stairs, there was a knock at the front door and I hurried back down. Opening the door, I held back a gasp as I saw it was Nicole.

**AN – Ok, I'm going to have a contest! Send me names you think Ezria and Spoby would name their baby or just some names you like and if I pick the name you sent, I'll give you a shout out! Send in boy names, girls names, anything. Stay tuned for the next chapter – you won't want to miss it.**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Aria's pov

Nicole and I were sitting at the Grille, finishing up our breakfast. She knew that if she were in my shoes, she'd want to meet the new girlfriend before the kids did. Which actually, I never even thought of. After her ambushing me weeks ago to meet me, I'm glad she wasn't planning on doing this to the kids. Caitlyn promised to come up with something if the boys ask about me, and of course I couldn't tell her at that moment that I'm looking for a new place to live.

"What do you do?" I asked, sipping on my water.

"I had actually started out to be a math teacher, but then I changed majors to nursing. Now I'm a pediatric nurse, I transferred from Lancaster in February. So, Ezra said you write?" Nicole inquired.

"Yeah, that's the plan. But for now, I'm just helping out here and just focus on the boys this summer." I said.

"I completely understand that, I'd take Ashleigh to work with me every day if I could." She told me.

There has to be a reason she hasn't mentioned my being pregnant again, should I even bring it up? Wait a minute, that's definitely not a good idea. If Ezra hasn't mentioned it to her yet, it shouldn't come from me. When I found out about Jackie and Alison; it wasn't because Ezra told me himself, it was because someone else told me. If I were in Nicole's shoes, I wouldn't want to learn he's expecting another baby from his baby mama. Oh great, now I'm just Ezra's baby mama… does this make me his baby mama? Before I could say anything, something beeped and she pulled out a pager.

"Oh shoot, I need to get going. Hopefully, we can do this again. When I don't get paged into work early." She said.

She dropped a couple twenties on the table, I watched as she hurried out to get to the hospital. I stood up from the table, as Josh gave me a small smile from one of his other tables and I quickly made my way to go say bye to Chloe. Getting closer to her, someone walked in through the door and I couldn't stop myself in time.

"Oh, I am so sorry about that." I said.

My heart dropped as I saw it was Byron, that I had bumped into. The last time I saw Byron was the day I almost slept with Hardy, and that's when I learned that Meredith wasn't the only woman he cheated on Ella with.

"Byron." I said, unsure what to say.

"Heard you just graduated from NYU. Congratulations Aria, I'm proud of you." He said.

"T- Thank you." I managed to say.

"Promised my daughter some pancakes, I better go pick up my order." He said and walked over to the pick-up station.

I stared after him, holding back my tears. This is the first time in a really long time that he has told me he's proud of me… and I'm not even his daughter anymore! Why do I keep letting him get to me like this? Watching Byron leave and get in the car, I saw the little girl in the backseat… excited that her daddy is getting her pancakes. From the corner of my eye, I saw Chloe nod at someone and Josh appeared.

"Hey, let's go to the park." Josh whispered.

…..

The wind blew through my hair as Josh and I sat on one of the only unoccupied benches. Where am I supposed to start with all this crap that's happening to me? Pregnancy, losing my husband to another woman, my biological father popping out of nowhere just to break my heart… Oh! How about the fact my tormentor might be getting released permanently, or that my soon to be ex-husband found out I almost hooked up with his best friend and that I kept it from him for the past few years!

"Do you want to talk about it?" Josh asked carefully and I couldn't hold back the tears anymore.

"Everything seems to be falling apart." I sobbed.

"Tell me what happened." He said softly.

"Ezra started dating Nicole and told me about it, a week before I came back. To add salt to wound, he recently found out that I almost slept with Hardy a couple years ago. And now, Byron has a daughter… that he clearly loves more than he ever loved me." I cried and Josh rubbed my back

"I love my dad-." I started to say but Josh cut me off.

"Everyone knows how much you love Daniel. But Byron was in your life for sixteen years, what he put you through during your junior year… that made an impact on you. You had a father, who only pretended that he loved you. This might be really terrible timing, but would you want to get dinner Friday night?"

"You want to go out with me after learning I have a crap ton of baggage?" I asked, and he nodded.

"I'd love to get dinner Friday." I told him.

….

Hanna and I were looking at the apartments I'm planning on looking at next week, which I still need to tell Caitlyn and Hardy. As much as I love and appreciate them letting me crash with them for a while, it hurts too much. Pretty sure that they assumed that Ezra and I would've been back together by now… I know I did.

"God, I want to hate Nicole but I can't!" I said, out of the blue.

"Why couldn't she be a bitch or something? It'd be a whole lot easier to hate her!" I continued.

Hanna started typing away on my laptop, as I placed my face in my hands. There's just so much right now, why can't my problems just go away instead if multiplying? Everyone else seems to have it easy! I lost my husband to another woman, now Byron is just randomly popping up! One pf the few good things happening to me is my date with Josh on Friday.

"Found her social media." Hanna said, I raised my head to see that Hanna was searching Nicole's profile.

"What are you… Hanna stop. It isn't our place to look into her past." I said, closing her out of the internet tab she had opened.

"Actually, it is your place. Aria, she's going to be around the boys…. Maybe even the baby. What if she's a drug smuggler." She pointed out and I gave her a look

"Han, she's a pediatric nurse not a drug smuggler." I told her

"A nurse with access to drugs." Hanna.

I closed my laptop and quickly slid it into my bag. Of all the things Hanna could've come up with…. She chose drug smuggler. Sighing, I looked at Hanna and she raised her eyebrows at me.

"I'm just saying, she does have access to drugs!"

"Not a drug smuggler. And I'm leaving now, do not start looking into her past the moment I walk out the door Han. I mean it." I told her.

"Mommy, I have juice?" Aiden asked, coming in from the living room.

"Yes, you can have some." Hanna told him.

She quickly went to the cabinet to retrieve a sippy cup, and Aiden reached his arms up for me to pick him up. When people used to tell us that life will go by faster than we could realize, they weren't kidding. I still remember when Hanna told me that she was pregnant with Aiden. Little did we know, that she and Aiden would be moving in with me and Caitlyn shortly after he was born. Giggling, Aiden squirmed in my arms and I stood him back on his feet. Hanna came over and gave him his batman sippy cup. He is practically Hanna's twin, just with Travis's nose. Even though he wasn't ready or wanted a baby yet, I'm glad Travis stepped up to be there for Hanna and Aiden.

"See you later Bam-Bam." I told Aiden.

"Bye-bye Ria!" He said.

"I'll see you at the fitting Ar, it's at four, right? Hanna asked and I nodded

I quickly gave Hanna a hug goodbye, and hurried towards the door. It felt like things with Ezra were finally getting better when I dropped the boys off at The Brew this morning, I just hope I can regain his trust. Especially with the baby coming, there needs to be trust between us.

"Bye." I called, walking out the door.

….

The girls and I walked out of the bridal shop, and headed down towards the arcade where Malcolm and Oliver were. We just had our last fitting and I know Spencer's internally freaking out about whether or not she's going to fit into her dress the day of the wedding, and me since we'll both be about fifteen weeks. Her stylist Avery, gave us her business card and said to call her if I didn't fit into my dress days before. Of course, she was also saying it to Spencer without knowing

"Are you going to invite Josh to the wedding Ar?" Spencer asked curiously.

"Maybe as a friend." I told her.

"Some friend, you don't flirt with us the way you and Josh have been flirting lately. And you don't go on dates with us either." Emily said, smirking.

"Guys I'm not even out of my marriage yet, I don't even know if I want a relationship right now." I said, regretting telling them that Josh asked me out.

"But?" Hanna asked carefully.

"Part of me wants to be with Josh, while the other part wants me to be alone. But speaking of the wedding, I think Ezra should be able to bring Nicole." I pointed out, and Spencer seemed unsure.

"How would that be fair? I bring a date while he can't, we're trying to get things back to normal between us." I said.

Luckily, the boys came out of the arcade before anyone else could say anything. Oliver had a lotso bear and Malcolm had a few prizes of his own. But I think Oliver only likes Toy story 3 for Lotso, since he smells like strawberries… which is Oliver's favorite food.

"Mama look, I got lotso! He was all my tickets." Oliver said happily.

"I see that baby, good job." I said.

Looking up, I saw Cece Drake walking towards us. I haven't seen her since the Alison trial the summer before we went off to college. She was rooting for Alison to stay close to home, but obviously the jury had elected that Alison be placed at The Preserves for life…. Or until she's no longer evil. They hadn't said until she's no longer evil, but that's usually how it goes in movies.

"Why don't you two go get your ice cream now? We'll be there in a few minutes." I told Malcolm and handed him a twenty.

The girls and I looked at one another as Cece walked up after waiting for the boys to head into the ice cream shoppe. Even though Malcolm knows who she is, I don't want him or Oliver to be near anyone that has something to do with Alison.

"My dad is pushing for Ali to be released, and it really could happen." Cece said without missing a beat.

"No. There's no possible way. She was sentenced to life in The Preserves, four years is NOT life!" Hanna exclaimed.

"This isn't the first time. But before, it got rejected by doctors within minutes. If anything, there would be a trial weekend then an actual trial. As much as I love Ali, she shouldn't be released. Time and time again that she shouldn't ever get released. Especially since she proves that she has no remorse for all those things." Cece said

"When?" Emily asked.

"He's pushing for the next couple weeks." Cece admitted.

"I'm calling Toby, we can't go on our honeymoon and leave you girls here alone with her." Spencer said.

The second she pulled her phone out, I quickly grabbed it and handed it to Maya. As Spencer tried to grab her phone, I stood in front of her and looked into her eyes.

"Listen to me, you're going on your honeymoon. We don't even know for a fact that it'll get approved this time. Cece just said Alison has proven herself unable to be released multiple times." I told her as my phone beeped.

**Ezra** – '_If it isn't too much of short notice, why don't I take you out for dinner tonight?_'

**Aria **– '_Sure, sounds good._'

**Ezra** – '_Great. So, I'll pick you up at little bit before 6. Wear something nice._'

Placing my phone back into my purse, the girls looked at me. Better tell them now, before the boys come back from getting their ice cream. I don't want this confusing the boys, especially since Ezra and I need to tell them about the divorce soon.

"Ezra wants to take me to dinner, somewhere with reservations." I said softly.

"Maybe he wants to get back together?" Emily suggested carefully, I shook my head.

"Em, I royally screwed up. He can't exactly look me in the eyes anymore, and he hasn't even acknowledged Hardy since that night. Besides, there was no implications of him and Nicole breaking up during breakfast with Nicole this morning." I told her

"Perhaps he wants to start pushing past everything." Spencer piped up.

"Let's hope so. I hate that he only talks to me is when it concerns the boys, it's like I lost my best friend. The boys and the baby should be able to grow up seeing their parents still being best friends, despite not being together anymore." I said

"They will see their parents being friends, you and Ezra just need to push past everything and start over." Maya said.

…

Hanna, Caitlyn and Maya were helping me get ready for my dinner with Ezra. I didn't tell the boys I'm having dinner with their father, I don't to risk any chance of them thinking that Ezra and I are getting back together. Hardy took the boys and Rosie to see a movie, then off to the arcade.

"What am I supposed to wear? It's like I'm going on a date with him, which isn't even date. And it's with my soon to be ex-husband!" I exclaimed

"You should wear something that will show him what he'll be missing." Hanna said, and I gave her a look.

Walking towards the closet, I looked through all my clothes again until I found it; my heather pink cold shoulder dress that I haven't worn in a while. I took it off the hanger before handing it to Caitlyn, and grabbed my floral trench coat.

"Hey Ar, can I log into my Facebook on your phone really quick?" Caitlyn asked.

"Yeah, of course." I said, brushing my hair.

Maya helped me change into the dress and my phone beeped. Realizing that it had been a notification from the realtor app, I know it's time to tell Caitlyn. Hanna nudged Maya and they quickly started backing out of my room.

"Rosewood's finest Real Estate? Caitlyn asked.

"I wanted to tell you sooner, but I kept freezing. It really means everything to me, that you and Hardy let me move in with you guys. But with how it's been between me and Ezra, I think it would just easier if I'm not so close to him." I said.

"And because you're not over him yet, right?" She asked, taking my hands in hers.

"Yeah, I feel like I'll be able to move easier on if I don't have to see him kiss Nicole every freaking morning. But right now, it just hurts to be so far and close to him." I said as the doorbell rang.

**AN –Where do you think Ezra is taking Aria out to dinner? There's quite some more to the night of Aria/Hardy's almost hookup – you don't want to miss it! And thank you to Guest AK, your submissions have been entered! And I know I'm not consistent with uploading, but I'm struggling with these chapters due to changing one thing or another.**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Aria's pov

Of all the places in Rosewood and even Pennsylvania, he brought me to Rive Gauche. Which most of the time, was our date night spot after he got shot. Why would he bring me here, to the only romantic restaurant in town? Especially since he has a girlfriend, and we're getting divorced. I just have no idea what else we could even talk about.

"You know we didn't have to come here for dinner, we could've gone to The Grille." I pointed out.

"You deserve a nice dinner and we haven't been here in a while. But I hope you know I'm always going to consider this our spot." He said, taking a bite of his salad.

"Yeah." I said quickly, not really sure how to respond.

Neither of us said anything, as we ate our salads. I couldn't think of anything to say, what should I say? He hasn't spoken to me for two weeks, then after ditching the ultrasound for the baby… he finally talks to me. But that was to say he wanted a divorce. What the hell am I supposed to say tonight?

"There's a chance that Ali will get released for a weekend. But Mr. Dilaurentis is pushing for her permanent release." I said, remembering Cece's words.

"Is there any way we can stop it?" He asked, and I shook my head.

"Doubt it. He's been trying for the past year, which I don't get at all." I told him.

"Parents will do anything for their children. Remember when you said you'd fight blood and tooth for Malcolm?" He reminded me

Our waiter came, taking away our empty salad plates and refilling our drinks. One good thing about Rive Gauche, you don't have to ask for a refill. I wonder how Josh is doing at work right now. As our waiter walked off, I looked back at Ezra. I can't be thinking about Josh right now… no matter how much I want to be.

"Then why did he walk away after she came home? He may not be her biological father but according to Alex, he treated Ali like an angel. Wait a minute; he wasn't Alex's father either and he treated her like crap." I pointed out.

"Oh, did I forget to tell you? I found Alex in this little pub a few blocks away from my flat in London. She's here for a while, and she'll be at the wedding." I said, noticing Ezra's confused expression.

"How do you keep meeting people in pubs?" He asked with a hint of offensiveness in his voice.

"You know, I think we should tell the boys about us soon. But we should ease them into it… especially Oliver." I said, changing the subject.

"Maybe we should hold off on the divorce for now. I said that when I was hurt and angry, that isn't fair to you."

"I want a divorce too." I lied, secretly hoping that he didn't see the look in my eyes.

How could he just suggest we hold off on the divorce? It wouldn't be fair to Nicole; what would that look like to her? We decide to get divorced and start the process then all of a sudden, we're no longer going through with it? But as unfair it would be to Nicole; it'd be worse for me. I've had enough of all of this hurt …I just need closure.

"You say it's not fair; but it wouldn't be fair either way. Route A; I lose my husband, who I thought I'd spend the rest of my life with. Or route B, we hold off on the divorce, which wouldn't be fair to Nicole and will just confuse me even if there's no chance of us ever getting back together. So please, tell me how any of that is fair." I blurted out before I could stop myself.

"Besides, I already called Peter and made an appointment to start the process." I said, before Ezra could respond to what I just said.

"Yeah." He said quietly.

…..

I poked at my filet mignon, which was the only thing that sounded good to me. Neither of us have brought up the divorce since I pretty much blew up on him earlier about it. It's just mostly been small talk about the boys or work. God, I miss being able to have actual conversations with him. Maybe I should tell him about Carrie's email… it's not like I'm even considering going back.

"The other night, Carrie Emerson emailed me. She invited me back-." I started to say

"So, you're just going to take Oliver and leave!" He snapped, interrupting.

I glanced around to see people staring at us, like we're some soap opera couple or something. Well this should be spreading through Rosewood like wildfire in about an hour… maybe sooner. Why the hell did we even need to have dinner in town? Hell, the taco bell right outside of Rosewood would've been a better choice. Realizing that he'd just assume I was going to take the job; I began seeing red. How could he just think, that I'd take the job without talking to him first? He's barely been in Oliver's life, and now he thinks I'd just take Oliver and jump on the next plane?

"Listen to me, I was never going back to London. You've barely been in Oliver life already Ezra! You being able to see him every day… that means everything to me. How could you just think that I'd jump on the first plane out of here?" I asked angrily.

"Youve done it before! Do I need to take you to court, so that you can't take my son and leave the country again?" He asked angrily.

The second the words left his mouth; I felt the tears brimming my eyes and choked back a sob. There's no way he would actually do that… would he? We both know he only said that out of anger, but that doesn't mean the words didn't hurt like a bitch. Holding back tears, I looked dead into his eyes.

"You wanna become those bitter exes? Is that what you want our kids to see as they grow up? I told Carrie I was honored, but I'm happy here… in Rosewood. Where OUR son could see his father more than he has these past four years!" I said quietly and he sighed.

"Not seeing you or Oliver last summer because you were off in London…. It killed me." He told me

"Ezra, you're acting as if I'm the only reason we hadn't seen each other at all that summer. You had your book tour for 'Ostinato' and Malcolm was in New Jersey for soccer camp. Not seeing each other was obviously in the cards, you cannot just put all the blame on me." I told him.

"I shouldn't have said any of that, I'm sorry. And I just fucked up our dinner, great." He said.

"Hey, I'm not done eating and we still have dessert." I reminded him.

"Yeah, we still do." He said quietly, with a soft smile.

"This might be completely random, but I think you should write about what you and the girls had gone through… everything." Ezra said, and I knew he also meant our relationship.

"I'm not saying this because you're the mother of my children. You have a gift for writing Aria, one that shouldn't be kept from the world." He continued.

"Ezra, I don't know if that's something I _can_ write about. I still have the nightmares, and sometimes they merge together. Which makes it even worse." I said, and he took my hand in his.

"Aria, I want you to call me whenever you have a nightmare. I don't care what time it is." He told me.

"Ezra, I can't keep coming to you for every little nightmare I have." I pointed out.

"Who knows your nightmares better than me? I want you to call me whenever you have one… because I love you Aria." He said.

"Yeah, okay." I responded quietly.

Neither of us said anything as we continued eating, what could even be said? Ezra loves me…. He probably didn't even mean it like that. There is no way he could still actually love me after learning I almost slept with hardy and didn't tell him about it. I still loved him after learning about him and Alison… but he has Nicole now, I didn't have a whole new boyfriend already.

"When is the next ultrasound? I swear on my life I'll be there." Ezra asked.

"First of all, don't swear on your life. The boys have spent enough time without you in their lives, and it's in two weeks." I told him, receiving a soft chuckle from him.

"Okay. So, um I haven't told Nicole about the baby yet." Ezra said carefully.

"When you tell her, that's up to you. That's a big conversation to have." I pointed out

…

I stared out the window as Ezra drove down the street, we hadn't really said much after we almost kissed when we were talking about my internship. The kitchen light was on at Caitlyn's, I'm sure one of them is just waiting to make sure I came home in one piece and not in tears. Ezra pulled into the driveway and rushed out to open my door. I quickly got out and he walked with me towards the porch, I wonder if Oliver managed to convince Hardy or Caitlyn to let him stay up until I got home.

"You do realize that you don't need to walk me to the door, right?" I inquired.

"Walking the girl to the door after a date is the right thing to do." He said, then realized what he said.

"Screw it." He whispered.

His lips were on mine, catching me off guard and I cupped his face. As he gently pressed me up against the wall, I softly moaned and he slipped his tongue into my mouth. Realizing what was happening, I quickly pulled away. What the hell were either of us thinking… Wait, what am I thinking of not fighting for him or for us? But he seemed pretty happy with Nicole this morning and I can't make him choose like that.

"Thanks, for dinner." I said quickly and turned to open the door.

"Aria, we really should talk about it… that kiss." He begged, taking my hand in his

"I'm going to pretend_ that_ didn't happen, because it _shouldn't_ have happened. Goodnight Ezra." I told him, with my voice cracking.

Taking my hand back, I quickly walked into the house before he could say anything more. I quietly shut the door and leaned against it. Taking a deep breath, I held my tears back and waited for him to leave. As I heard Ezra pull out of the driveway, Hardy walked in from the kitchen and we shared a look.

"How about some tea?" He suggested.

I watched as Hardy boil some water and grabbed the box of chamomile. As Hardy placed a tea bag in each coffee mug, I walked over to the fridge and stored my leftover on the bottom self in. Turning around, Hardy already had the tea ready and I took the mug from him gratefully before sighing. He wasn't going to push me to start talking about it, but this needs to get off my chest.

"It was so damn confusing. He brought me to Rive Gauche, and told me that he'll always consider it _our_ spot. We sort of fought about Carrie's invitation to go back to London, and there might have been a kiss on the porch a few minutes ago." I told him.

"And?" Hardy asked, knowing there was more.

"I'd be lying if I said I wish it didn't happen, it did make me think again about fighting for him - for us. Tell him that he's just wasting his time with Nicole and that we were the ones meant to be together." I said quietly.

"What stopped you?" Hardy asked.

"He set me free so I knew for sure that I wanted to be with him forever… I have to do the same for him. Think I might head up to bed, pretty sure a headache is forming." I said, sipping on my tea.

"Well I should warn you – Ollie is in your bed." He told me.

I gave him a small smile as he took my mug and I headed upstairs. There too many questions running through my mind, I just want to go snuggle Oliver and fall asleep. Walking into my room, I saw Oliver curled up with bubba on the left side of my bed. I quickly changed into my pajamas and crawled into bed with him.

…...

Next day

The girls and I were at The Radley, which is now a hotel and spa. Alex was going to come to meet Emily and Hanna, but Spencer told me; Alex wasn't feeling well and that Mary's taking care of her. We both know how much Alex wanted to meet everyone, especially knowing what Alison put all of us through.

"How would you girls feel if I wrote about everything we went through? I can always change your names if you want." I asked, taking a bite of my veggie omelet.

"Maybe it could give you closure from what Mona put you through." Emily said.

"Em, we all went through it." I pointed out.

"Ar, she didn't kidnap all of us for months." Hanna carefully reminded me.

"Maybe, you should consider talking to Sullivan again if you do write about everything." Spencer suggested.

None of us said anything, Hanna sipped on her mimosa and Emily dug into her skillet. I glanced over at Spencer and we shared a look. We all know that I usually just want to forget what Mona did, to me and to Toby. Then it got worse when Mona shot Ezra, those nightmares destroyed me more than the ones where I'm back in the shed. Hanna set down her glass and took my hands in hers.

"Aria, I'm going to say this with love. I think you really should consider talking to Sullivan again, or anyone." She said softly

"I'll consider it, I promise. But you girls are sure you're okay with me sharing everything?" I asked.

"Of course, we are. I bet your book will be adapted into a movie." Spencer said.

"With everything, I think of it becoming a tv show instead of a movie. Too much has happened, for it to be a movie." I joked.

"Are you… going to add about you and Ezra's relationship?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, he said that I should write about everything. I really don't wanna talk about my dinner with him right now=, it was so damn confusing and my brain still hurts from it." I told them and they nodded.

Also, the fact that I'm still pretty confused about the kiss we shared and that he told me he loves me. Was it a slip or did he actually mean either of them? But he's with Nicole now, there's no reason he should be telling me he loves me or kissing me the way he did.

….

"Your server tonight is going to be Annie, and she'll be with you shortly." I told the older couple, after seating them.

I walked back to the host stand to see a folded-up piece of paper with my name written on it. This is not from Alison, or mona. They're locked up…. At least Alison's locked up for now, until Kenneth finds a way to get her released. Taking a deep breath, I opened it to see two tickets for the showing of _All about Eve _on Friday.

'_How about we add a movie after dinner Friday? – Josh.'_

Looking up smiling, I caught Josh's eye right away and nodded. He walked over as I slipped the tickets into my purse. Today has been so stressful, and this made it a little bit better. Before he could say anything, he got notification on his iPad that one of his tables needed him. Chloe walked over and handed me another glass of water as my phone lit up with a call from Malcolm. She nodded and I quickly answered my phone as she took over the host stand.

"I'm almost off work, what is it honey." I answered, and I could hear Oliver having a meltdown in the background.

"You may want to get here now…. Dad told Ollie about him and Nicole." He told me.

I could feel my heart dropping into my stomach as he told me. The one thing I didn't want to happen – happened. He met Nicole without me preparing him, did Ezra introduce them? He wouldn't do that after I asked him for time to prepare Oliver… or would he?

"I'll be there as soon as I can, can you please try to calm him down?" I asked, Chloe glanced over worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm trying but you're the one he - I WANT MAMA!" I heard Oliver cry over Malcolm.

"Go, I can handle it up here." She said as Malcolm and I hung up.

Grabbing my purse, I quickly punched out and ran out. Running through people, I made my way towards the brew. Running into The Brew, which was empty except for Oliver in one of the accent chairs holding bubba to his chest. Rushing over to him, I gently scooped him up and kissed his forehead. He held onto me as I sat us down onto the chair.

"Shh, mama's here baby. Mama is right here." I whispered, kissing his forehead.

I rubbed his back as he slowly stopped crying. Looking around, I didn't see Ezra or Nicole as Malcolm came over and handed Oliver two funfetti sugar cookies. Ezra's probably in his office, waiting for me to come talk to him. Why hadn't he called me instead of Malcolm?

"You learned something really big today, didn't you Ollie?" I asked, receiving a nod.

"Daddy don't love us no more." He cried.

"Oh baby, Daddy loves you more than anything." I said softly.

God, I should have been preparing him for this in case something like this happened! He offered me a bite of a cookie, I took a tiny one and kissed his forehead. Hopefully, this won't make him ice Ezra out again. That's one of the things I don't want to happen out of all of this.

"How about we go and visit Uncle Tobby? I'm going to go talk to dad, you two start heading over." I told them.

Malcolm took Oliver's hand and they started headed for the door as Ezra came out of his office. He glanced over at me, before turning to see that the boys were going to leave without telling him goodbye. What did he expect from them after what happened today?

"You hurt Ollie's heart!" Oliver exclaimed.

"Congratulations asshole, you broke your own child's heart." Malcolm yelled at Ezra.

"Malcolm Jeremy Fitz! Do not be swearing like that, especially in front of your four-year-old brother. Now, go walk over to the station while I talk to your father. Just so you know, we'll be having a discussion later about cursing at your father." I said.

"I'm four and three quarters." Oliver told Malcolm.

I watched as the boys walked out of the brew, it broke my heart how hurt Oliver was from everything. Even though I knew he'd be confused, but the last thing I wanted to ever happen was for him to think Ezra didn't love him.

"Was I delusional that things were starting to get better between us? You've broken his heart before, but not like this. Now once again… I'm the one to pick up all the pieces!" I yelled the moment the boys were outside.

Without saying another word, I walked out and headed towards the police station. People glanced at me, as I wiped my tears. Of course, this had to happen today, right when I'm starting to think everything is looking better. One of Toby's coworkers held the door open for me as I hurried up the steps, and I smiled a thank you. I saw that the boys were patiently waiting in Toby's office, I felt an arm around my shoulders. Looking to see who it was, Toby smiled at me and his smile vanished when he saw the tears in my eyes.

"Tell me what's wrong." Toby said

"Oliver knows about Nicole, resulting in a huge meltdown." I said quietly.

We got to Toby's office and saw Oliver curled up in the desk chair, Malcolm was trying to cheer him up by spinning the chair. Malcolm stopped when he saw us, and came to give Toby a hug.

"Lieutenant Oliver, there's been a robbery." Toby told Oliver.

"Daddy hurt my heart." Oliver said quietly.

Toby walked over to his chair, lifted Oliver up and sat down. Malcolm and I were sitting in the chairs, on the other side of the desk. I don't even know how it all happened, didn't even ask Ezra why he did it. With everything going on between us, there's no reason to do that to our son. Especially after barely being in his life for the past four years.

"Tell uncle Tobby what happened." Toby said.

"Ollie heard Daddy and Nicole talking about a date." Oliver told him.

I shared a look with Malcolm as Oliver went on telling Toby everything, I realized he didn't know Oliver had only overheard and that Ezra didn't just tell him. If Oliver just overheard, then why didn't Ezra say anything? Oh my god, because I just stood there and accused him without letting him say anything… crap. I keep royally screwing up and one of these times, it's really going to fuck everything up. I wouldn't be surprised if Ezra tried to fight me for custody at this point, I keep screwing up each chance of us getting along.

…..

The boys headed inside as Toby drove away, and I waited as Ezra's car came down the street. At least Hardy and Caitlyn took Rosie to see a movie and have dinner, the last thing I need is Hardy trying to interfere into this. I made my way across the street as he got out of his car. Walking up to him, I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"Okay, let me have it." I said.

"Aria, you didn't let me say a word! You just yelled at me then stormed off, set on I was to blame." He yelled.

"I'm so sorry, I should've let you talk and not assumed you told him yourself." I said softly.

"You seem to be saying 'sorry' a lot lately." He pointed out in a snarky tone

As the words came out of his mouth, I stared at him. It feels like things will never be anywhere near okay between us. Was that dinner just a trap into falsely thinking that we could finally be able to co-parent, without having there be obvious issues between us. I made a mistake, now I can never try to fix what I had broken? Feeling the tears, I didn't bother to hide them, I'm tired of trying to be strong.

"I get it Ezra! I broke all the trust you had in me, then I accuse you of telling Oliver about you and Nicole! I'm a stupid dumb bitch, is that what you want to hear?" I cried.

"No… it's not." He said softly and I ran a hand through my hair.

Without saying another word, he lifted his hand and cupped my face without breaking eye contact. I could feel my heart racing. I moved my face away and looked across the street, this cannot happen again.

"I should go get started on dinner… for the boys." I said quickly.

"Yeah, of course… Think I could come over later and talk to Ollie?" He asked.

"Sure, come on over in about half an hour." I told him.

Walking across the street, I could feel Ezra watching me. I have so many questions about why he keeps kissing me… but I'm not sure I even want to know the answers. What would have happened if we had signed those divorce papers after I learned about him and Alison? Would we even have Malcolm, or would Hardy and Caitlyn even be together? Every choice made… paved its way to this moment. As much as I think it would be easier if we had signed the papers back then, I couldn't imagine our lives if we had.

**AN – If you celebrate, Happy fourth of July! Just wanted to let you guys know that it might be awhile before I post the next chapter. As of right now, I only have chapter 12 and I want to write more chapters before I post anymore. Don't forget to send in names you think should be used to name Ezria's baby and Spoby's baby, along with your guesses on whether either baby will be a bot or a girl! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Aria's pov

Oliver was perched up on the counter, helping Malcolm make the spaghetti sauce. They had wanted to make it themselves with no help and decided that I'll make the garlic bread. Which of course, they insisted on the frozen kind instead of homemade. I watched as Malcolm pulled out some different spice jars and held one up to Oliver.

"Okay, smell this one Ollie." Malcolm told him.

"Yucky." Oliver said, covering his nose.

"Is that how you pick seasonings?" I asked, giggling.

Malcolm nodded as Oliver stirred the sauce. The doorbell rang, I quickly rose to go answer the door. Ezra was on time, which I knew would happen. Hopefully, I can have my talk with Malcolm while Ezra talks to Oliver. As I headed for the door, Malcolm reassured me with a look that he'd keep an eye on everything… Meaning Oliver. Maybe it's time that we told Oliver about the baby, but it might confuse him even more about mine and Ezra's relationship.

"Hey." Ezra said as I opened the door.

"I think we should tell Oliver… about the baby." I said quietly.

"Okay." He agreed.

Ezra followed me inside to see that the boys were finishing up the sauce as the timer for the pasta went off. Unaware of his father's presence, Malcolm quickly drained the pasta in the sink. He turned around to see Ezra and I standing at the doorway. Without saying another word, he ran up the backstairs to his and Oliver's bedroom. Just as we heard the door slam shut, I shared a look with Ezra, and we saw Oliver looking around. With him realizing he couldn't get off the counter on his own, he looked over at us.

"I'm stuck!" Oliver yelled.

"Daddy will get you down baby. I'll go talk to Malcolm." I said, whispering the last part to Ezra.

…

Ezra's pov

Aria rushed up the stairs and I made my way over to Oliver, who had his arms out ready for me to pick him up. The speech I prepared for him; it's gone now. How am I supposed to explain this to him? Especially when I barely understand any of this myself? This wasn't how any of this was supposed to go when Aria and Oliver came home, but its's this way because of me. Walking over to the kitchen table, I sat him on the chair with his dinosaur seat cushion. His words about me hurting his heart haven't left my mind since he said them. Hurting him was the last thing I ever wanted to do.

"Can daddy talk to you lil man?" I asked.

"You don't love Ollie no more." Oliver responded.

"That is not true, I love you more than anything in the world. This is not what you thought coming home would be like huh?" I asked.

"Nu uh." He said quietly.

"It's not what I was expecting either lil man. But just because daddy is seeing someone new, does not change how much I love you. Oliver, what happened today…. That was not how I wanted you to find out about Nicole. And I'm sorry you found out that way, the last thing I wanted to do was to hurt your heart." I told him.

"But you don't love mama?" He asked.

"Let's see if daddy can explain is easily for you lil man. What's your favorite fruit?" I asked, kneeling in front of him.

"Sawberries!" He exclaimed excitedly.

"It's like you love strawberries, but you start liking… let's say blueberries. Then when you want some fruit, you don't know which one you want." I explained, hoping he'd understand that.

"Ohhhh. I gots a question daddy," He told me.

"What's your question lil man?"

"Will I see you more now?" He asked, and I nodded

"You're going to see me so much more lil man; you'll get tired of seeing me." I promised him.

Oliver giggled as he jumped into my arms. I caught him, and he snuggled into me. Even though I thought staying away for Aria's benefit would do good…. I missed out on so much of Oliver's life. But we have now and I'm not going to miss out on anymore of his life. Staying away from him the past four years, that's one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made.

"Brother's mad at you." Oliver told me.

"I know lil man, but I'm gonna go talk to him. Mama will be down in a minute; and I'll be back shortly." I told him.

Setting him back onto his chair, I ruffled his hair and walked upstairs towards the boys' room. As I got closer, I could hear Aria talking to Malcolm about not cursing and something about my relationship with Nicole. Knocking, they both looked over when I opened the door. Aria gave me a small smile as she got up and out of the room. As she closed the door behind her, I turned to see Malcolm pretending to read his national geographic magazine. Ever since he cursed at me earlier, I knew there was deeper meaning to it. I sat down next him, and he tossed his magazine onto his nightstand, still not looking in my direction.

"Ok Malcolm. what's really going on?" I asked, sitting down next to him.

"Mom finishes school, and we can finally be a real family again… you go and get a stupid girlfriend?" He asked.

So that was what's bothering him, he's been a little snappy since the day I met Nicole. Had I been so blinded that I couldn't even notice how he felt about it? What kind of father am I? Whenever I told him I was going out with Nicole, there was always that response he had 'Of course you are.' in a snappy kind of tone.

"Getting with Nicole… I wasn't planning on that happening." I told him.

"But it did happen, and now everything is messed up! It feels like Ollie and I are just hers and his kids, even though mom promised that wouldn't happen. We're not even a family anymore dad!" He exclaimed.

"We're still a family Malcolm. And like most families, there are obstacles we must go through. I know everything came all at once. Come on, I know there's something else." I gently pushed.

"_She _was barely in my life and I didn't know you existed until I was seven! Then BOOM, she leaves me… no goodbye or anything. But Mom was there… then she wasn't and that's because you made her leave. Everything going on between you and mom, it's just so confusing." He said quietly.

"Malcolm, it's confusing for me as well. You know how much I love mom, but… I also have feelings for Nicole. Don't think for one second that any of this is easy for me, this is the most confusing time in my life." I admitted.

"It's confusing for _you_? Either you want to be with mom, or you don't! It's not rocket science dad, and you say you love mom… but you got a girlfriend when you knew that mom and Ollie would be coming home soon! Plus, you haven't spoken to her in two weeks because of whatever reason you have." He snapped

Damn it, he had noticed... Though I shouldn't be surprised. But Aria almost slept with Hardy and never told me, though I did the same thing with Alison and the book. Would it have happened between her and Hardy if I had been there? How would it have gone if I had gone with her to New York? Would we have rented out our home and found a good school for Malcolm? Could I have found another teaching job, or would I have to travel between New York and Rosewood to keep up with The Brew? But packing up and moving Malcolm… that would've been hard on him. He'd already lost Maggie within five minutes of coming to Rosewood, and he was slowly making friends by the time Aria left. If I had gone with her, she could've ended up resenting me or our relationship for it. There's also the high chance of her not meeting Caitlyn if I had gone with. Not going with her, that was so she _wouldn't_ end up resenting me or our relationship. I really do need to have a sit down with her and Hardy both to talk about that night.

"I know, but I promise things are going to be different now than they have been." I promised him.

…

Aria's pov

Ezra and Malcolm came downstairs as I tickled Oliver. Seems like he understands everything a little bit better, I just hope he doesn't end up icing Ezra out. I don't even know where he learned to ice people out, maybe when he saw it in Frozen? Not sure, but the past is the past and now Ezra can be a more active father to the boys and the baby. Oliver escaped from me and ran towards them as I looked over at Ezra. From the looks of it, everything seems to be better between Ezra and Malcolm again.

"Why don't you stay for dinner?" I suggested.

"Yeah! Stay for dinner daddy!" Oliver said excitedly.

"Please dad?" Malcolm begged.

Ezra and I shared a look, we both knew that neither of us could say no to them. Even though we're planning on telling Oliver about me being pregnant with the baby tonight, it wouldn't be right to not invite Ezra for dinner. But I'm not sure if the news will confuse Oliver about mine and Ezra's relationship, I'm hoping he won't automatically assume we're getting back together.

"Okay, I'll stay for dinner." Ezra said.

"You can sit with me daddy. Me and brother made dinner all by ourselves." Oliver said happily, taking Ezra's hand,

"Wash your hands first." I told the boys.

Ezra brought Oliver to the sink and Malcolm helped me make a small salad, even though I know Oliver will try to refuse eating it. But the only vegetables he had this week were carrots and a little bit of green beans. I saw Oliver's 'special' sauce… which is just honey mustard and grabbed it, along with the ranch for everybody else. Oliver saw me setting the ranch down and looked at me in slight horror.

"No mama, ranch is yucky!" He exclaimed.

"Baby, your sauce is right here." I told him, showing him his sauce.

"Okay, goodie." He said.

We all sat around the table, it feels weird having a family dinner at Hardy and Caitlyns kitchen table. But it's not like we really have anywhere else to have the dinner, but I'll take whatever I can get. Ezra helped Oliver with cutting his pasta as Malcolm took a sip of his water and passed the garlic bread to me.

"This sauce is really good boys." Ezra said.

"Oliver picked out the seasonings." Malcolm told him.

"Don't think about talking with food in your mouth." I reminded Oliver, looking at him.

Oliver looked at me in shock, slowly chewing his food. Malcolm and Ezra held back their laughter as I had a staring contest with Oliver. If I could keep him at this age, where he believes in magic and good in this world… I would do it in a heartbeat. Swallowing his pasta, Oliver looked over at Ezra and I took a bite of my salad. After just swallowing his food whole, he loves to talk with food in his mouth.

"How she do that?" Oliver asked.

"Mama knows everything." Ezra answered, giving me a secret wink.

….

After dinner, Ezra brought us over to his place for dessert. I managed to grab a couple of ultrasounds from when I was pregnant with Oliver, and a couple of Malcolm that were in my scrapbook I made just for the boys and my relationship with Ezra. Whenever I was feeling homesick, rearranging and looking through it made me feel better. Hopefully, the conversation of the pregnancy wont somehow lead to Maggie being Malcolm's birth mother. That is something we've never mentioned and I'm not sure Oliver would understand, or if that's even something Malcolm is okay talking about yet. Ezra and I looked at each other as the boys enjoyed their ice cream, we both knew it was time.

"Ollie, would you like to see a picture of you when you were in mama's belly?" I asked, receiving a nod from him.

Malcolm quickly wiped everything from the ice cream sundae off Oliver's face and hands. I pulled out the ultrasounds and Ezra handed the boys some wet naps. The moment that he was clean, Oliver jumped off his chair and tried climbing up onto my lap. I picked him up and showed him the last ultrasound I had.

"Where's my hair?" Oliver asked, looking between me and Ezra.

"We couldn't see your hair lil man." Ezra told him.

"That's a shame." Oliver said softly.

I kissed the top of his head as we showed them the ultrasounds and shared another look with Ezra. This is what is was supposed to be like when I came home, Ezra and I together with our boys awaiting the baby's arrival. But of course, because it's my life we're talking about here, I was robbed of it. Malcolm came around the table and sat down next to me, and I showed them to him as well.

"There's a reason we're showing you two these pictures, it's because mama has a baby in her tummy. You two are getting a little brother or sister. Doesn't that sound fun?" Ezra told the boys.

"Why?" Oliver inquired.

"Because we thought you'd enjoy having a little brother or sister." I told him.

"But how is the baby in your belly mama? Did you eat the baby?" He asked concerned.

Ezra and I looked at one another as Malcolm wasn't sure to laugh or not. Even though we had our plan to start trying for another baby after I came home, we never prepared for the fact Oliver would have these questions. Luckily, Malcolm already knows about it from when his health class went over puberty and everything else.

"Mama did not eat the baby. There's a baby in her tummy because Daddy held mama's hand and a baby formed." Ezra said quickly.

Oliver looked between me and Ezra with wide eyes. I'm so glad Ezra came up with that fast, I had no idea how I was going to answer Oliver's question. Oh god, but how is he going to respond to what he just learned? I'm starting to either feel nauseous where I'm going to puke, or it's a headache.

"I HOLD ROSIE'S HAND! I'M TOO WITTLE TO BE A DADDY!" Oliver yelled

"Only grown-ups get babies Ollie." Malcolm reassured him.

We watched Oliver and Malcolm for any reactions that either of them might have. Even though Malcolm already knows about the baby, I love that he's here for this family moment. I don't want either of them to feel like we're replacing them with the new baby. Hopefully, Oliver will just love the new baby, and not want to try to get rid of him or her after I give birth. I know I tried getting rid of Mike, and both Ezra and Heather tried to get rid of Wesley too.

"Do you have any more questions lil man? Or anything you wanna say about the news?" Ezra asked

"I want a sister!" Oliver exclaimed.

"Why a sister and not a brother?" I asked him.

"I'm mama's baby boy, just me… And I alweady gots brother." Oliver said.

I kissed the top of his head, as he picked up one of the ultrasounds. Even though we're no longer together, I wouldn't trade this moment with Ezra and our kids for anything. Maybe if we really are meant to be, fate will work it's magic.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 – Next day

Aria's pov

I pulled up to the daycare and looked in the rearview mirror to see Oliver and Rosie still eating their apple chips. Normally Caitlyn brings Rosie with her since Oliver is either with me until I go to work, or he's with Ezra. But since she had an early staff meeting at work, I offered to bring Rosie when I brought Oliver. As I watched Oliver eat his snack, it brought me back to one of the days when he didn't want me to leave him at daycare.

_Flashback (February 2013)_

_I shifted Oliver from my right side to my left as he waved to everyone we passed, some waved back while others didn't. Caitlyn offered to bring him to daycare for me since my first class didn't start until ten, but I don't get to spend a whole lot of time with him in the morning. He's already twenty months, and I feel like I'm missing out on him growing up. Between classes, Zeta Nu Phi Delta meetings and activities, AND my shifts at the daycare – at most, I spend maybe four or five hours a day with just him and I._

"_Ready to go play?" I asked Oliver._

"_No! Stay mama." He said._

"_Mama has to go bye-bye." I told him_

_I'd bring him to Journalism with me, but there's a huge test today to prepare us for midterms. Most of my professors are usually chill with him coming with me to class occasionally, knowing that I'm a single mother. God, I hate the sound of that; me being a single mother and it wasn't supposed to be that way. Oliver was supposed to have both his parents around as he grew up, but he just has me. Ezra hasn't really come up to visit Oliver, even though he had promised that he would come up multiple times._

"_Ollie stay mama." Oliver demanded, and I realized today would be a difficult goodbye._

"_You can't stay with mama today." I told him._

_Walking into the daycare building, I saw Linda was the receptionist today. She's like a godsend when it comes to the mornings where Oliver has difficulty saying goodbye. And I know that whenever any of the kids have a difficult morning, she'll make sure that either her or another teacher gives them some extra attention until they're calm and happy._

"_You'll have lots of fun with everyone." I told him._

"_Stay mama!" Oliver cried._

_Standing him on the ground; I signed him in, and Linda handed me his nametag. I kneeled to his level; he slapped my hand away as I tried to put his nametag on. Internally sighing, I took his hands and looked into his eyes. Lately, he's been hitting when he doesn't get his way and timeout doesn't always work. _

"_No hit." I told him._

"_Bring Ollie!" He cried._

_He held onto me, still crying about not wanting me to leave him. On the verge of my own tears, I scooped him up and kissed the top of his head. I glanced at the wall clock and saw that I still had some time before class even starts. Maybe we should have stayed home today or better yet, maybe we need to go home to Rosewood…. For good. This is too hard for me, even with Caitlyn's help._

"_Oliver, please be good." I pleaded._

"_Mama no go." He sobbed._

"_You'll see mama at go home time, and tomorrow mama will be at daycare with you all day!" I tried, knowing he won't fully understand._

_Linda came around and gave me a soft smile, she was a single mother too. She's like another mother to me, which makes missing Ella even worse. And the fact I haven't been able to see or even talk to her, because she's in Maine taking care of Grammy since grandpa died._

"_Mama will see you very soon Ollie." I said._

_I stood up and Linda took Oliver's other hand, as I handed her his backpack. Even though I don't want to leave him in his current emotional state, I need to be early to class today. Kissing Oliver's forehead, I let go of his hand and headed for the door._

"_Draw a picture for mama." I said._

_ End of Flashback_

I snapped back to reality as the kids finished their snacks. Between all the terrible mornings he had, that one was the worst and had stuck itself in the back of my mind. Oliver looked up, smiling brightly and held up his empty baggie.

"Ate all my chippies mama." He told me proudly.

"Me too Ria!" Rosie piped up, holding hers as well.

"Good job, are you two ready for camp?" I asked them, receiving nods.

Getting out of the car, I opened Rosie's door and helped her out of her car seat and led her to the sidewalk. Opening Oliver's door, he was already out of his seatbelt and jumped out of the car. They each took one of my hands as I led them into the building. Caitlyn saw us, and Rosie ran over to her. I signed them in as Oliver looked around, it was obvious he was searching for Aiden.

"Where's Aiden?" He asked, as Caitlyn came over.

"He'll be here soon sweetie." Caitlyn told him.

The kids ran off to go play with some other kids, and Caitlyn looked at me concerned. I didn't tell her what happened yesterday, but I think Oliver may have said something when I wasn't around.

"We never got to really talk last night, is everything okay Ar?" She asked.

"A lot happened yesterday; can we talk later about it?" I asked and she nodded.

As much as I would love to talk to her now, she's at work and this isn't the place to tell her. Hanna walked in with Aiden, who ran off to play with Oliver and Rosie the second he saw them. Maybe it was too early to tell Oliver about the baby, the last thing I need is Ella finding out from someone else again.

"I'll give him his nametag Han. Even though, we all know the kids will just find a way to get rid of them when none of us are looking." Caitlyn said, taking Aiden's nametag as Hanna signed him in.

"Ollie, come give mama a hug and kiss goodbye." I called.

The boys came running towards us, at least Oliver doesn't have any more tantrums about me leaving him at daycare. But now he understands that I will come back for him, plus he has Rosie and Aiden to play with all day.

"Do you remember what me and daddy told you last night?" I asked.

"Yes, I do mama." He said, nodding.

"You can't tell anyone about that okay? It's still a secret, no one else can know yet." I told him.

"That's lying mama." He told me.

"Well sometimes it can be viewed as lying and other times it's not. How about we call it a surprise instead? Because for us, it is more of a surprise than a secret." I explained.

"Oh, okay mama." He said.

"I'm going now, be good baby. I love you." I told him, giving him a kiss.

"Bye-bye mama." He responded.

Oliver ran off once more with the others, and Hanna motioned for the door. As we headed towards my car, I looked back to see no one at the door. Getting into the car, I flashed back once more.

_Flashback (Continued)_

_As I walked away from the daycare center, I could still hear his crying. I turned around to see him banging on the door, crying his little heart out. His face was red and wet from his tears, it broke my heart to see him like this. I shouldn't have turned around, why did I? _

"_No go mama! No go!" He cried._

"_I love you Ollie!" I called out and blew him a kiss._

_I quickly turned back around and pulled my phone out of my pocket and calling the one person I knew would answer. This is too painful for me to deal with on my own, I'm going back home to Rosewood whether Ezra likes it or not. Even though the girls and I promised to stay in touch, I barely hear from any of them except for Hanna. It's understandable with Emily and Maya, they're over in Haiti and can only be contacted for emergencies. Chloe's going through a rough patch with Caleb right now, I know she'll text me if or when she needs me. Then there's Spencer… she didn't even come home for Christmas, and she has so many classes and activities that I'm pretty her next scheduled time to breathe is in maybe six years. Hanna and I try to get together, but it always somehow gets cancelled._

"_Hey Aria, are you missing me?" Toby answered._

"_You could say that I just wanted someone to talk to before class." I said._

"_I can hear it in your voice, what's the matter?" He asked._

_The second the words left his mouth; I broke down in tears. I should've known that he'd be able to know something was up. Leaving Rosewood and forgetting everything that has happened junior and senior year; I was so excited for it. Now, I hate being here instead of at home with Ezra and Malcolm. It's like my homesickness is never ending. Some people threw weird looks my way, as I found a tree to lean against._

"_I'm coming home; I can't do this on my own and I hate it here." I cried._

"_Hey, you can do this Ar. I know it's hard being a single mom in college with a baby, but you are a lot stronger than you realize. You should probably turn around." He said, with a hint of a smile in his voice_

_Turning around, I saw Toby standing a few yards away from me. I ran over to him, and he quickly wrapped me up into a hug. He wasn't supposed to come up until this weekend, but I don't care. I need someone to talk to, someone who knows what I went through. Who knows that better than Toby… Ezra doesn't seem like the right choice. Toby was with me in that shed when no one else was, and I know that Ezra would tell me not to come home and I needed to stay at NYU._

"_Tell me, what made you decide to drop out of school." He said._

"_It's been harder and harder, and I can't keep doing this on my own. Oliver didn't want me to go to class, he kept screaming 'No go Mama!' but I have to go to my classes today. Then I've been completely homesick ever since I came home from winter break, I just miss Ezra and Malcolm, and everybody. I feel like my homesick is turning into hatred for New York." I sobbed._

"_Hey, listen to me. You are going to breathe and go to your classes. I'll go pick up Oliver from daycare and spend the day with him. Then we can talk about your awful idea to drop out over dinner tonight." Toby said, rubbing my back._

_I quickly wiped my tears and called the daycare. Maybe spending the day with Toby will make Oliver better, perhaps going home was a bad idea. If I did go back to rosewood; would Ezra and I still do the legal separation, or would he realize it had been a stupid idea all along? But the fact Toby visits whenever he can, or when he's going to see Spencer, it helps with my homesickness a little bit. Especially since he sometimes will bring Malcolm when he comes up to visit on the weekends._

"_Hey Linda, it's Aria. My brother came to visit earlier than expected, and he has my permission to sign Oliver out for the day. His name is Tobias Enrique Cavanaugh, he'll be more than happy to show you his ID." I said, hanging up to see Toby giving me a death glare._

"_You cannot be mad at me, it's not my fault that's what you were named." I pointed out to him._

"_I remember where the daycare is, get to class." He told me._

_End of flashback_

I snapped out of my flashback, and realized I was staring at The Brew. Coffee sounds so good right now, even if I can't have a lot of it. But I also need to tell Ezra about looking for a new place, maybe I could borrow the futon from him for a little while.

"I haven't had any coffee this morning yet, do you wanna swing by the brew really quick?" I asked.

"Yeah, I haven't had any coffee either. Aiden decided today would be the day I go without my morning cup." She said.

We quickly got out of the car and made our way to The Brew. Walking in, I saw there were just a few customers around, mostly teenagers. Hanna and I got in line and skimmed the menu. I had been hoping that Ezra would have been up front, so I could tell him and ask about the futon. But I'll ask him another time, it's not like this is life or death and I don't want to bother him if he's in his office. The thought of having to tell Ezra I'm moving out of Caitlyn's… is nerve wrecking, although I know I need to.

"Let me guess; an iced mocha with almond milk and two Splenda packets for Aria. Then for Hanna, a vanilla latte." Kevin guessed.

"And for to go, please Kevin." Hanna said.

He quickly started on our coffees with another barista, and we sat down at the long bar table. Which, I had helped Ezra pick out when we first got The Brew and wanted to redo everything. And Ezra hadn't been sure that he would be the best fit to own a coffee house… but both Paul and I persuaded him that he was. Ezra walked out from the back, as Kevin set our coffees on the counter. Hanna gave me a look, which was to let me know that she was paying for our drinks.

"Hey Ar, is everyone okay?" Ezra asked, a little concerned.

"The baby is fine, we're all fine. Han and I were grabbing a coffee…. Before I look at some apartments." I told him, then looked over at Hanna.

"Go on ahead, I'll meet you in the car Hanna." I said, handing her my coffee

Hanna slowly backed out the door, and Ezra motioned for us to talk in his office. The moment I walked in; I saw a bunch of the photos we had taken over the summer before I left… along with one of my self-portraits that I made for him. Pretending not to have seen them, I sat down on the couch with him next to me.

"What happened to staying with Hardy and Caitlyn?" He asked.

"The plan was I'd stay with them until I found a place of my own." I told him.

"You don't need to look for another place Aria, you can have the house." He said.

"No, that's too much work and it'd probably just confuse Oliver." I responded, shaking my head.

How could I be able to live there? All the dreams and plans we had for the house; like turning the basement into a possible bedroom for Malcolm when he got older, raising four… maybe five kids. Then there's all the memories we had made, even if some of them are of us fighting and me walking out after learning about him and Alison.

"Well then; since you're still co-owner of this place, you can take the loft upstairs. I could even give you and Ollie a tour later today, that's if you want the loft." He said.

"Yeah, I'd like that. Plus, the boys could still see us the same amount even when it's not our week." I pointed out.

"Exactly. And even though the loft is already furnished, whatever you want from the house is yours." He added.

…

I followed Ezra, as he showed me and Oliver around the loft. Of course, I decided to bring a few things to just leave here since we don't really need them right now. Ezra's just showing me the updates that he and Toby have been making. It's a lot nicer then when Spencer and Toby lived here, but they didn't really think about decorating this place and well, Toby was kind of using this as a fake 'A' lair in the beginning.

"Can I explore me and brother's room?" Oliver asked.

"Go ahead lil man." Ezra said.

We watched as Oliver rush up the stairs towards the room he'll be sharing with Malcolm. So far, he hasn't been confused on anything. He's just a little upset that he won't have any more sleepovers with Rosie. Those two are going to end up getting married one day, I could tell from the day they met each other. Caitlyn and I have reassured him that they can still have plenty of sleepovers, that will never change.

"You did really good with him, must have been pretty easy." Ezra said softly, and I glared at him.

"You think it was easy for me? Well guess what, it wasn't! It sucked and I wanted to come home so many times." I snapped.

He sat down on one of the bar stools at the kitchen island and I followed suit. All my emotions about wanting to come home were going to come out at some point, I'd just been hoping that it would come out in a less snappy way than this. But he did just assume the past four years have been easy!

"Freshman year, I was literally about to drop out and come back home. I didn't care about the reason you sent me off, I hated it there and hated being away from you and Malcolm." I told him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked.

"We both know why I didn't tell you. Ezra… you were so set on me having some normalcy in my life." I said.

Neither of us said anything, I could tell he was trying to figure out what to say that won't piss me off. Freshman year was the hardest to handle. But I think Sophomore year was more of me realizing I couldn't be with Ezra… not even on school breaks and being serious about dating other guys. Which is where Riley walked in that year when I just needed someone. Although, Jake… I think he was more of a temporary Ezra replacement.

"Aria, I know freshman year was hard for you. It was your first year away from home, your grandfather died over winter break, and you were trying to get a grip on everything. That's a lot for anyone, I would have understood if you needed a break from school." Ezra said, taking my hands in his.

"You still don't get it. I didn't want a break, I wanted to drop out and come home. Where Oliver could have BOTH his parents around as he grew up." I told him, taking my hands back from him.

I sighed, putting my face in my hands. We could hear Oliver talking to bubba about where they'll put their stuff. Hopefully, Oliver won't try to put his stuff all over the room. Even though I did hate being in New York the first year being there, part of me misses it now. Because in New York, I was no one important and not the topic of lemonade gossip sessions. And here in Rosewood; I'm the girl who got knocked up by her English teacher and kidnapped while pregnant, got stalked for two years, and my 'best friend' was killed, but turned out to be alive and had been the one in control of it all. But now, I'm the woman whose husband left her… right when I'm coming back home.

"You promised, you'd be there for Oliver and not grow up barely seeing you. Especially after not knowing about Malcolm for seven whole years. And what did you do? You _broke_ that promise." I pointed out

"I thought if I kept showing up it would've contradicted everything that I was doing for you… for us. But if I could do it differently, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Letting Ollie grow up with me barely in his life, that's one of my biggest regrets." He said.

Not saying another word, he stood up and kissed my forehead and dropped the keys for the loft in front of me. I stared at my pregnancy books on the island, listening to him hurry up the stairs. Maybe I should've stayed in New York. As I heard Ezra telling Oliver that he'll see him later, I felt the tear start to build up.

"Malcolm should be back soon, I'll let him know you're up here." Ezra said, I nodded.

He sighed, before walking out the door… just like he's been doing for the past four years. I took a couple of deep breaths to keep myself from crying. Neither of the boys shouldn't have to see me cry, I don't want to risk Oliver shutting Ezra out again or having Malcolm curse him out. Standing up, I quickly walked towards the kitchen sink to grab a paper towel and dabbed my eyes.

…..

I stood at the kitchen counter, eating my sandwich before work. As Friday gets closer, I keep wondering if my date with Josh is even a good idea. Looking at the tickets for _All about Eve_, I'm not ready to be in a relationship yet. I'm not over Ezra, and I don't want to lead Josh on in anyway. Although, the boys had taken the news of my date seemingly fine and that was something I was not expecting. Caitlyn came into the kitchen as I gathered up the tickets, putting them back into my purse and held the uneaten half of my sandwich to her.

"Want it? I have to go cancel my date with Josh before work." I told her.

"Aria! What are you talking about canceling your date with Josh?" She asked.

"Cait, what if I'm only fooling myself into believing I'm ready to start dating again? Ezra moved on…. Why can't I?" I whispered.

"Seems like it's because you won't really let yourself move on. You can't just sit around, expecting yourself to move on if you don't throw yourself out there. Go to work, but don't cancel your date." She told me.

She looped her arm with mine and walked with me to my car. Which after stalling it for days, I finally bought a 2015 silver Subaru outback. Caitlyn watched me as I got in and I started it, with the radio turning on and playing 'Give your heart a break' by Demi Lovato. Holding back my tears, I realized I really do need to let myself move on from Ezra and give Josh a chance. Even though I had been dreaming about coming home to Ezra for the past four years, I can't keep my hopes up about us getting back together.

…

Friday night

Oliver crawled up onto my bed as I adjusted my tank top. I've gone through so many outfit choices, and I'm running out of time. I looked through my clothes once more, why is finding the right outfit always the hard part? I should've just asked Hanna to pick my outfit, just so I don't have to. It's so obvious, that I'm not ready to start dating again. Instead of using the time I had to get ready, I chose to spend it making sure Oliver was ready for his night.

"The pwetty dress mama!" Oliver exclaimed, pointing at me closet.

I held up my black floral lace up dress, receiving a nod. He scrambled off my bed and into my closet. Sitting down next to him, he handed me my heels that I had worn on multiple dates with Ezra… the only time I ever worn these heels.

"Daddy will like these." Oliver said, proud of himself.

Oh my god, he thinks I'm going out with Ezra. How did I not see this coming? Now I must remind him that it's Josh and not Ezra. Malcolm had offered to bring Oliver with him over to Dani's house, and seems like all three of them are excited about tonight. Dani 's dad, Pastor Kane promised that he would keep an excellent eye on the kids and make sure Oliver is comfortable. Which now, his night might be completely ruined.

"Baby, it's Josh not daddy remember?" I reminded him carefully.

"I don't like you!" He shouted before running out of my room.

"Ollie!" I said.

I stared after him, shocked at his reaction; I had been so careful telling him about tonight. Especially after he learned about Ezra and Nicole. I knew he was angry; and it breaks my heart… I knew I should've cancelled when I had the chance. He wasn't ready when he learned about Ezra and Nicole, and he's obviously not ready for me to start dating either. As I started walking towards my door, he poked his head in the doorway.

"Not Ollie, Oliver!" He said.

"Come here, I think we need to have a talk." I said, picking him up.

I brought him over to my bed, and he bursted into tears as I sat us down. Wrapping my arms around him, I kissed the top of his head as he held onto me. Maybe I shouldn't have told him about my date, and just wait a little bit… but that would be risking him finding out the same way he learned about Ezra and Nicole.

"Mama…Daddy do-don't love each other no- no more!" He said, between sobs.

"Ollie, just because mama and daddy are seeing new people… that doesn't mean we don't care for each other still. The love is just a different kind now." I said.

"Promise?" He sniffled.

"Pinky promise. But I don't want you saying you don't like me again okay? It hurts mama's feelings." I told him.

"I sorry. I love you mama" He said, wrapping his little arms around me.

"Do you want mama to stay home with you? I will, if that's what you want." I asked.

"Daddy." Oliver said softly.

"You wanna see daddy instead of hanging with brother?" I asked, making sure it was what he wanted.

"Yeah." He said.

Setting Oliver back on my bed, I grabbed my phone and called Ezra. Hopefully, he isn't busy tonight. I don't even want to imagine Oliver's reaction if he couldn't see his father, especially after the tantrum he just had. But if Ezra is busy, I'll just have to stay home with him, and hope Josh will understand. As the phone rang a second time, Ezra picked up.

"Hey, be honest. Are you busy tonight?" I asked.

"Just doing some paperwork at the Brew. What's up Ar?" He responded, and I silently sighed of relief.

"Oliver wants to spend some time with you." I told him

"I'd love to hang out with him. And even if I did have plans, I would've cancelled for him." He said.

"We'll see you soon." I said.

Oliver rushed out to get his stuff as I slipped my wedges on, and the doorbell rang. Grabbing my purse, I rushed downstairs and answered the door. Josh smiled at me as I let him inside, he looked surprisingly good in his short-sleeved navy button down and grey dress pants.

"Hey." He said.

"Hi! This is really embarrassing to ask. Is there any way we could drop Oliver off at the brew with Ezra?" I asked, hoping it won't ruin our date.

"That's not a problem, I'm actually a little early. And by the look on your face, you must have had a long day and didn't know what time it is." He said, and I nodded.

Oliver came down the stairs holding bubba to his chest with one hand, dragging his green and navy striped dinosaur backpack behind him with his other hand. I can tell he's still a little upset, but hopefully spending time with Ezra will make him feel better.

"Is that Pastor Kane at the door?" Malcolm asked, peeking around the corner from the living room.

"No, it's Josh. Long story short, Oliver decided to hang out with dad tonight. If you can, try to let Hardy or Caitlyn when you leave." I told Malcolm and he nodded.

"Have fun mom, love you." He said.

"Love you too, have fun and behave for Pastor Kane." I told him.

I quickly kissed his forehead, and he went back into the living room to watch whatever it was that he was watching. Turning back around, I could see that Oliver seemed to be easing up to Josh. I waved to Caitlyn, who looked in from the kitchen and she gave a smile as I followed Josh and Oliver out of the house

…

Josh pulled up in front of the Brew and I glanced back to see Oliver playing with bubba. Our date hasn't even started yet, and it's already been crazy. Josh included Oliver in our conversations, which is so sweet of him to do.

"This should take a minute or two." I told Josh, as I opened my door.

"Take your time, bye Oliver." Josh said, turning to look at Oliver

Oliver waved goodbye as I got both him and his car seat out of Josh's car. As easier as it would have been to just use a couple pillows instead of dragging this car seat around, I was not about to risk any thing happening to my baby. Taking Oliver's free hand, we quickly walked into the brew to see Ezra sitting on one of the couches. The moment Ezra looked up to see us, he made his way over towards us and looked me up and down.

"You're pretty dressed up." Ezra said.

"I have a date." I said, feeling a bit awkward telling him.

"Is that the real reason you brought him here?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Yes, and he wanted to be with you." I told him

"Please non't fight." We looked down to realize Oliver was still next to us…. Shit.

"We're not fighting lil man. Hey, Ms. Sabrina has some cookies fresh out of the oven." Ezra said.

I mouthed three to Ezra, he turned to Sabrina and held up three fingers. She nodded as Oliver ran towards her and quickly jumped into her open arms. Watching Sabrina, bring Oliver to the kitchen for cookies, I quickly turned to Ezra.

"He got mixed up and thought it was _you_ I was going out with. When I told him it wasn't, he got upset and wanted to be with you." I told him.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped like that. To make it easier, I can bring him back in the morning." He said softly.

I handed him the car seat and made my way to the door. Hopefully, Josh hasn't changed his mind about the date and drove off. God that would be terrible, especially after Oliver's tantrum earlier about my going out with Josh.

"You look beautiful by the way, always do." Ezra called out.

As I turned around, I gave him a small smile and Oliver came running out of the kitchen towards me. Oh god, please don't have another tantrum. I don't know if I could handle two in one night, and I don't want to keep Josh waiting.

"Wait mama! Don't go yet! Oh, I need bigger legs." Oliver said, running to me and I kneeled to his level

"I love you mama!" Oliver told me, giving me a hug.

"I love you more baby, be good for daddy and have fun tonight." I said, giving him a kiss.

**AN – Ooh, looks like things are slowly looking up for Aria. Please do send in name suggestions for both Ezria's baby and Spoby's baby, along with whether your team boy or team girl for both babies! And to the guest that asked when Ezra will be telling Nicole about the baby; within the next few chapters is when he'll tell her.**


	14. Chapter 14

AN – I WANT TO SAY THERE'S A SCENE THAT MIGHT A BE TRIGGER FOR SOME PEOPLE, IT INVOLVES AN ALLERGIC REACTION. IF THAT COULD POSSIBLY TRIGGER YOU, PLEASE SKIP THE SCENE TO THE NEXT SCENE AFTER THE LINE BREAK. THANK YOU!

Chapter 14 - The next morning

Ezra's pov

I opened my eyes to see Oliver poking my arm. The minute he saw that I was awake, he tried climbing up into the bed with no luck. I gave him a boost and laid him down on Aria's side… well what used to be her side. He pointed to where he had been standing and I looked to see bubba on the ground, I picked up Bubba and handed him over to Oliver. Glancing at the clock, I saw that it was Eight Forty… Last night must have really worn him out. We colored and then watched a couple movies after swimming and playing on the swing set. Then around nine-ish, Malcolm came over here because he didn't want to bother Caitlyn and Hardy while Rosie is sick.

"Bubba and me are hungry." Oliver told me.

"Wanna help daddy make some scrambled eggs?" I asked, receiving a nod.

I led Oliver out of my room and he took my hand, as we made our way downstairs. Walking into the kitchen, I heard Malcolm and Fish coming out of the boys' room. When it comes to either of the boys, Fish is so protective of them, but never aggressive. Not only did Malcolm get a friend when he got Fish, but also learned responsibility. Of course, he let Oliver pick out the name instead of naming his own dog. But Fish's name seems to suit him perfectly.

"Why doesn't Fish use the potty inside?" Oliver asked.

"Because his potty is outside, like our potty is in the house." I explained.

As Malcolm brought Fish outside, I sat Oliver on the island. He held onto Bubba as I quickly grabbed the ingredients to make the scrambled eggs. I quickly cracked the eggs into the mixing bowl, and let Oliver whisk them together. He poured the milk, with some help. Malcolm then came back inside with Fish. The coffee pot beeped, and Malcolm looked at me.

"Coffee?" Malcolm asked hopefully.

"Nice try bud, we've been over this. You can't have coffee at your age. You can have your usual choices." I told him, and he shrugged his shoulders.

"I want coffee! Daddy, I want coffee!" Oliver chanted.

"You can't have coffee either, lil man." I said, looking over at him.

"Why?" He asked, pouting.

Malcolm watched, as he pulled out two cups from the cupboard. I handed him the milk to put away and helped Oliver down off the island. We walked over towards the stove and he got on his stepstool as I quickly fired up the stove and poured the eggs into the pan.

"Lil man, coffee isn't good for you. There's something in it called caffeine that can make you become addicted to it" I said.

"What does that mean?" Oliver asked

"It means that you cant stop doing something" I said.

"Like Uncle Toby and Star wars." Malcom added.

"If your brother can't have it, why would you get some?" I asked

"Because I'm very cute." Oliver said, giving me a sweetly innocent look.

"You gotta give him props dad." Malcolm pointed out, as I held back a chuckle.

"Malc, mom and I will discuss you _trying_ coffee later. If we agree to let you try it, don't expect to have it all the time. For now, you'll just have to make do." I told Malcolm.

He nodded and took Oliver's hand, helping him off the stepstool. I quickly added the eggs to the pan and grabbed the mild cheddar cheese out from the fridge. The boys started setting the table and I looked down to see Fish looking at me hopefully, wagging his tail in hopes I'll drop some cheese. Fish stood up and went in a circle before sitting back down and pleaded with his eyes, I chuckled and dropped a tiny bit.

"Ollie, want some fruit with your scrambled eggs?" Malcolm asked.

"Sawberries?" Oliver asked excitedly.

"We got those, and how about some kiwi and bananas too?" I suggested.

"Kill weed?" Oliver asked.

"Not kill weed, kiwi. It's kind of like a green strawberry." Malcolm told him, cutting a kiwi and showing him.

"Looks like a booger." Oliver said, then ate the slice of kiwi Malcolm gave him.

As Malcom finished cutting the fruit, I finished up the eggs and brought it to the table. Oliver led Malcolm to the table and I lifted him onto his chair. Although he mostly looks like me; I can see hints of Aria in him, like his hair is dark brown like hers instead of my black hair.

"It's okay if you don't like the kiwi Ollie, if you don't like it you don't have to eat it." I told him.

"Tastes like booger." He said, eating another slice.

I scooped a little bit of eggs onto his plate, making sure there was enough room for a little bit of fruit. Malcolm took the pan from me as Oliver poked the kiwi with his fork. As the boys started eating their eggs, I walked over to the counter and poured some coffee into my mug. Fish sat at my feet, looking at me with hopeful eyes and I shook my head no at him.

"I have buggy bites." Oliver said, looking at his arm.

"Daddy will take care of your buggy bites after breakfast, eat some eggs lil man." I told him.

"But my tongue is itchy!" Oliver said, scratching at his throat.

"Dad, you need to come look at Ollie." Malcolm said concerned.

I quickly walked over to the boys, kneeling down in front of Oliver. His arms and up his neck up to his chin were covered in hives, which he must have thought were bug bites. Looking at his neck, I saw that it was starting to swell up…. Shit.

"He might be having allergic reaction; Tyson had this kind of reaction when he ate a Reese's cup at lunch and he had to go to the hospital right away." Malcolm told me.

"My. Throat. Hurts. Daddy." Oliver managed between coughs, before throwing up on the ground.

"I'm taking you the emergency room lil man. Malcolm stay here in case mom comes over; tell her I'll give her a call when we get there." I said.

Malcolm nodded, and started cleaning up the puke. Scooping Oliver up; I grabbed my keys, phone and my wallet before rushing him out to the car. I quickly buckled him in and got into my side. Starting the car, I sped out of the driveway. I tried to keep myself calm as I heard Oliver whimpering in the backseat.

"Everything is going to be okay Ollie." I told him, looking into the rearview mirror.

…

Looking around the waiting room; I cursed that they refused to let me stay with Oliver. He's probably more frightened since he doesn't have me or Aria with him, and it hadn't occurred to me to grab bubba. So, Oliver is completely alone back there… surrounded by nurses and doctors that he doesn't even know. His mouth become completely swollen and he could barely breathe by the time we got here, which terrified both of us. I glanced up at the entrance door, waiting for Aria to come running through. I'm not sure why its taking her so long when we both live four minutes away, and she said she was coming when I had called her ten minutes ago.

"Ezra." I looked up to see Nicole walking up.

"Nicole? You're not usually on this side of the hospital." I said.

"One of my friends told me you were here, then I saw the state Oliver was in." She told me.

"How is he?" I asked.

"He's breathing. They're trying to figure out what caused everything." She told me

"I'm here!"

I turned to see Aria running towards us, wearing the same clothes she had last night. Why is she still wearing her clothes from last night? Wait a minute, that's not the focus right now… Oliver is. I need to focus on Oliver and not on why Aria's dress is inside out.

"Okay, what exactly happened?" She asked.

"I honestly don't know. We were having some scrambled eggs and fruit for breakfast. Next thing I know, he's covered in hives and starting to barely breathe. Malcolm said it might be an allergic reaction, he saw someone at school have the same thing from eating peanut butter." I told her

The image of Oliver petrified over not being able to breathe planted in my brain. I don't think it will ever leave my mind; despite how much I've been trying to get it out. It doesn't help that it was how I last saw him and I have no idea how he's really doing. He's been alone this entire time, without me or Aria, or even bubba.

"Oliver is able to breathe again, they're just trying to see what the cause was." Nicole told Aria

"But why wasn't I allowed back there with him?" I asked.

"Wait a damn minute! They didn't allow you back there with our FOUR-YEAR-OLD SON?" Aria asked, yelling at the end.

"They wouldn't let me back there with him, one of the nurses threatened to call the cops. He doesn't even have bubba; it didn't cross my mind to grab him. He's all alone back there!" I said.

"He had Nicole." Aria said, giving Nicole a soft smile.

"I made sure he focused on me. Which seemed to make him feel better." Nicole told us.

"Thank you." Aria said, pulling Nicole in for a hug.

I felt a little pang of jealousy that it's Nicole and not me, that Aria's hugging. Nicole gave us a small smile before heading back to work, I led Aria to the seats I had managed to snag. The image of her possibly having sex with Josh crept into my mind, did he snuggle her for hours after or caress her back until she fell asleep? Damnit! I need to stop thinking about that possibility!

"I'll go get us something to drink." I told her, and quickly went to find a coffee machine.

There is no reason for me to be jealous of Josh being with Aria, especially when I'm with Nicole. But it's not like I ever had sex with Nicole, like Aria almost had sex with Hardy… and now apparently Josh too. Although, it's a completely different story there, I can't keep ignoring Hardy. Staring at the different coffee options, I pulled my phone out and dialed Hardy's number without looking. Even though I'm still a little mad at him and Aria... he's like my brother and like another brother to Aria.

"Can you come to the hospital? Something happened… I need you." I said as soon as he answered.

"Do you or Aria need anything before I come up there?" He asked.

"Just a second pair of clothes for Aria, and could you grab Bubba from the house?" I asked.

"You got it; I'll be there soon." He said, and we hung up.

I quickly got mine coffee then got Aria's, just the way she likes it when she's at home. Walking back to our seats, I noticed the way her hair still a mess and for a moment I remembered all the mornings when I'd wake up to her hair being a mess while she's still asleep.

"Here you go. Medium roast with two sugars and a splash of milk. They didn't have the sweet almond milk you like, but I got you skim." I told her, and she smiled a thanks.

"How long has he been back there?" Aria asked, taking a sip.

"Almost half an hour. God, I should've forced myself back there." I said.

"If you had, you could've been arrested and then Oliver really would be alone." She pointed out.

Neither of us said anything as I took a sip of my coffee, god I forgot how bad hospital coffee is. The last time I was here, was when Malcolm sprained his ankle back in fourth grade. Maybe I should have brought him with us, but Aria could've come over right after I had left. Glancing over to her, I noticed some love bites on her.

"You and Josh had sex?" I asked, realizing it really had happened.

"Whatever happened between me and josh… is that, between me and Josh." She said.

She didn't say anything more as she picked up some type of gossip magazine, stopping the conversation from going any further. Glancing up towards the entrance door, I saw Hardy rushing in with the clothes and bubba under his arm.

"Caitlyn just grabbed the first thing she saw." He said and handed the clothes to Aria.

"Thanks." She said.

Hardy sat down next to her, and I could tell that she was trying not to glare at me. What else was I supposed to do? Oliver would've had questions on why she had on the clothes from the night before. Without saying a word, she stood up and quickly walked off towards the bathroom to go change.

"What happened? Is Oliver okay?" Hardy asked.

"It might have been an allergic reaction, they refused to let me stay with him." I said.

"Everything is going to be okay Ezra. Oliver's a mix between you and Aria, he'll be fine." He told me.

I looked over towards the door that they had took Oliver through, it feels like its been forever since they took him back. I have no idea what they're doing and whether or not its really even helping him. God, I should be with him back there! Aria came back, wearing a pink and black striped crop top with a floral skirt.

"Look, we all know that we're going to have to talk about what happened sooner or later." Hardy said.

"And hopefully without violence." Aria added.

"I'm sorry about hitting you man." I told Hardy

"You had to let your anger out somehow Z, we did keep it from you for two and a half years. It was kind of like when you punched me back in college for eating the last of your bagel bites." He said, and Aria raised an eyebrow at us.

"Over bagel bites, seriously?" Aria asked.

"In my defense, it was one of the very few things I ate during college." I told her.

"When I told you to take care of her, I didn't mean try to sleep with her." I pointed out, looking at Hardy.

"I know." He said.

"Oliver Fitz." A nurse called out.

Aria and I quickly got up and followed the nurse. As we walked into the room, we saw Oliver in the hospital bed. Wren Kingston was sitting next to the bed, talking to him. Oliver's face lit up when he saw us, Wren turned to see me and Aria in the doorway and stood up.

"Hi Daddy! Hi mama!" Oliver said happily.

"Hi Ollie, how are you feeling?" I asked as Aria hurried over to the side of his bed.

"Yucky." He told me, and I handed him Bubba.

"Oliver, the medicine I gave you will help your tummy. I'll come back and talk to you two more later." Wren said, looking towards me and Aria at the end.

Just as I was about to sit down when Oliver reached for me to lay with him. Looking over at Wren, he gave me the go ahead nod and I carefully sat on the edge of his bed. Oliver laid with his back to my chest and held onto bubba, placing his thumb into his mouth. As much as I love snuggling with him, I'm more shocked that he didn't want Aria's snuggles. Wren placed his hand under the hand sanitizer machine and walked out, giving us some privacy.

"You don't match mama." Oliver pointed out.

"Do I look silly Ollie?" Aria asked, receiving a small nod.

"Yeah." He giggled.

"Is there anything mama can do for you baby?" Aria asked, caressing Oliver's hair.

"We stay with daddy night." Oliver said, looking at us with puppy dog face.

"I don't see why not." I told her softly.

"Okay, we can stay with daddy tonight." She said.

…

Later that night - Ezra's pov

I watched Aria put Oliver to bed, careful not to interrupt their time together. She handed him the blue short sleeve shark pajama shirt and the shorts that go with, before walking over to his nightstand and picking up one of his storybooks. As soon as he was finished changing into his pajamas, Oliver ran towards Aria and jumped into her arms. Spending the entire day with her and the boys, felt just how it did before she had gone off to New York. Of course, neither me nor Aria were in very good moods after one of the nurses had threatened to call CPS on us… because no one happened to even know that he had an allergy. But the second we brought Ollie back, he was bouncing off the walls like he usually does.

"Do you want a bedtime story?" Aria asked, laying him down.

"No. Sing the Ollie song." He said.

"Okay, snuggle up baby." She told him.

I smiled to myself, enjoying every second of her singing 'You are my sunshine' to Oliver. It's been forever since I heard her sing, it still sounds as angelic as I remember. Hell, she could sing that one weirdly annoying fox song and it would become my favorite. Oliver's eyes slowly closed and I quietly made my way back downstairs before Aria could see me at the door. Even though most of his day was spent in the hospital and he's completely worn out, I kind of wish that it had taken him a little bit longer to fall asleep… just so I could hear her sing some more.

**AN – I'm sorry for making you all wait so long for this chapter! I really wanted to give Oliver's reaction everything I could. To the guest that said they want Ezria back together, me too. But we need to let them take their time. But there's still more ahead, that you won't want to miss! Also please send in names for both Ezria and Spoby's babies and whether you're team boy or girl.**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 – the next morning

Aria's pov

I sat with Emily and Maya as we caught up over brunch at The Radley. Although I wanted to stay by Oliver's side; Ezra and the boys had their last suit fitting and then Spencer's having the guys put together the wedding favors. Frankly after what happened between me and Ezra, I need someone to talk to about it…. Without Oliver around.

"Okay, now that you two have let me ramble endlessly about the boys. What's new with you two?" I asked, and they shared a look.

"We weren't going say anything yet, but we might be adopting two kids. When we were in Colombia, this woman wanted us to adopt her baby. But we told her that as much as we wanted to, it just wasn't the time for us. But she recently reached out to us, about adopting her newest baby and her first born." Emily said.

"Oh my god! That's so amazing, you two are going to be such amazing moms." I told them.

"Thanks Ar, but waiting for the call is killing us. The agency knows about our engagement to the wedding, so it shouldn't interfere." Maya said

I took a sip of my pomegranate and guava spritzer as they both took bites of their food. Maya's phone began ringing and we looked over at her, she quickly got her phone out and looked at us. It was pretty obvious that she was nervous about answering whoever was calling.

"It's the agency." She said.

"Go answer it! Should I be with you when you answer it?" Emily asked.

"I'll just surprise you with the news." Maya said.

She quickly got up to go take the phone call, I took Emily's hand in mine as she crossed her fingers. They deserve to have these kids so much. They've been great aunts to Oliver and Malcolm, and I know they'd be even more amazing as moms.

"How's your mom?" I asked, taking a bite of my banana foster waffle.

"I haven't really seen much of her since I've been training the new high school swim team, and she's been cancelling dinners with us. You know, there's an opening for AP English teacher. Mrs. Olsen finally decided to retire. If you want, I could probably pull some strings and get you an interview." Emily said.

"I'd love that. The three of us, all working together." I said.

"Aria, we've known each other forever. What's the matter?" She asked.

As much as I love the girls, I hate the fact they can read me so easily like this. Even though I did want to talk to her about what had happened between me and Ezra. It was awkward enough avoiding the conversation with him this morning, and I think Malcolm could tell something was up.

"Ezra and I… we fell asleep together on the couch, nothing else happened. It was late and we were watching some movie, I ended up falling asleep and woke up in his arms." I admitted.

"When I woke up in his arms, it brought me back… to when we were happy." I continued.

Maya came back, and neither Emily nor I could tell what Maya had been told. They better have been approved to adopt the kids; the birth mother clearly wanted them to have her children! There's no reason that I could think of that they shouldn't adopt; they both have steady jobs and their own place with plenty of room.

"Well…. Turns out, that we need to leave the day after the wedding." Maya said, smiling.

"Oh my god! We're having kids?" Emily asked excitedly.

"I'm so happy for you two!" I said.

…

Maya's pov

I took Emily's hand as we walked through the mall, we needed to get so much for the baby and for Darius with little time to spare. Just as we were about to go into another baby store, I caught a glance of a photobooth… just like the one where we had our first kiss.

"How about a small break?" I suggested, nodding my head towards the photo booth.

We walked over towards the photo booth. This is it, seeing the photo booth is obviously a sign to propose now instead of tonight. Placing our shopping bags down on the ground, I quickly and carefully pulled out the ring box from my purse as Emily placed a dollar in. We both prepared ourselves and I quietly opened the ring box, careful not to let the ring fall out. Within a few moments, our future could be changed.

"Since the day you came into my life, you've turned my world upside down in the best way ever. You helped me come to terms with who I am, and that person… has been in love with you since day one. You were all in while I was still confused and in denial. Even though our future seemed dark and impossible when we faced hardships; like my mother and you going off to True North, we came over that together and I wouldn't want it any other way or to spend my life with anybody else. Maya Anne St. Germain, will you marry me?" Emily said, holding up a white gold cushion cut halo three stone ring.

"Oh my god… Emily! I was just about to propose to you!" I said, showing her the round cut rose gold moissanite ring.

"This would be us saying we love each other all over again." She pointed out.

"I hope you know; my answer is yes." I told her, softly kissing her.

"I'm also saying yes." Emily murmured, cupping my face.

…..

Aria's pov – the next week

Malcolm and Oliver were in Ezra's living room, building Legos while Ezra and I watched from the kitchen. After Oliver came home from the hospital, I had started moving some stuff from Caitlyn's to the loft. Even though it was his week with the boys, Ezra helped and so did the boys. Everything finally seems to be better between not only me and Ezra, but also him and Hardy. Josh accepted my invitation to be my date for the wedding, and it's been getting more serious between us… it's a little scary, but also a good feeling.

"Why don't I make everyone dinner tonight? I found a recipe for vegetarian lasagna a while back, how about that?" Ezra suggested.

"You don't need to make it vegetarian. I sort of eat meat now, even though I feel awful about it." I told him.

"So, you're a guilty omnivore." He teased and I nodded.

I looked over to see the boys, clearly not paying any attention to anything other than the game and each other. It's so obvious how much the boys love each other, sometimes Oliver will climb into Malcolm's bed instead of mine… I'm kind of jealous of that. But their love for one another has only grown stronger as the years have gone by; despite the fact that they're seven years apart and not being together much the past four years. I only hope they both have the same bond with the baby as well.

"Because I know you, I need to ask. Have you made this before, or will you be burning the house down?" I asked, turning back to Ezra.

"I've made it a couple times, so nothing will burn. Plus, Malcolm liked it when I made it." He told me.

"With your cooking abilities, are you sure he's not lying?" I teased.

"I even had Toby taste it… because Hardy refused to." He admitted.

"Ez, I'm messing with you." I said.

"You know, I learned it to make it… for you. I had planned to surprise you with it when you came home." Ezra said.

"You're learning to cook, which is good. Because you can't live off takeout forever." I pointed out.

I can't get over the fact the learned the recipe for me… and was going to surprise me with it when I had come home. But obviously that was never going to happen. He smirked before lifting off his shirt to show off his small six pack… along with the faded scar from the night he got shot. That night managed to always be on my mind like my psyche didn't want me to forget that it actually happened. One of the many reasons for my nightmares… and I wasn't even there when it happened.

"Think I'll be okay." He told me.

"Don't come crying to me when you're in your thirties and your six-pack is gone. All because you live off of takeout food." I joked.

"Daddy! You have a booboo!" Oliver said, as he came into the kitchen

"I do, and I'll tell you all about it when your older. Who wants to help make dinner?" Ezra asked, changing the subject.

…..

Ezra and I were watching the boys splash around in the pool, they had ganged up on us to convince us to let them go swimming. Ezra looked over at me as I took a sip of my peach tea, I turned to see him trying to figure out how to say whatever it is that he's about to say. Even though we talked about the night I almost slept with Hardy…. There were still some things we really hadn't brought up about it. It could either be about that or the divorce papers that we will be signing in a few days.

"There's something we haven't discussed… about that night." Ezra said softly.

"Why I was completely drunk." I responded, and he nodded.

"I ran into Byron that morning and learned Meredith wasn't the only woman he cheated on Ella with. And then I was also realizing that Riley and I didn't feel like a couple at all, and I was still a little homesick. So… yeah, getting drunk sounded like a great idea." I said.

Neither of us said anything as we turned our attention back to the boys, who were now doing cannonballs. They both look so much like Ezra and though I wouldn't have it any other way, I kind of hope the baby looks more like me. I'd love a girl; I could dress her up in little dresses or twin with her. Because it's a little hard to do the twining with Oliver or Malcolm, and I can't twin with Rosie for obvious reasons.

"So yesterday, before everything happened. I told Malcolm that you and I would discuss letting him try coffee." Ezra said, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Well obviously, he can't just start having it all the time." I pointed out.

"That's what I told him, but what do you think?" He asked.

"I don't see anything wrong with letting him try it. I said.

He nodded in agreement. This is how we should be co-parenting, getting along perfectly and not in an argument every five minutes. Oliver came running towards us, giggling with Malcolm behind him. Climbing onto my lap, Oliver took my cup and took a sip of my tea.

"Yuck." He declared, giving my cup back.

Snuggling into me, Oliver reached over and took a handful of the strawberries we have been snacking on. My phone beeped and I saw that I had a text from Josh. Holding my phone over Oliver's head, I opened the text and tried not to give it away that it was Josh… though I'm sure Ezra already knew it was him.

'_I was thinking that we could take the boys mini golfing tomorrow night.' _

'_That sounds fun, I'll talk to the boys about it and let you know.' _

Texting Josh back about tomorrow, I saw it was almost eight twenty and mentally kicked myself for letting Oliver be up this late. He should've been in bed about an hour ago and he still needs his bath. I really need to stick to his schedule; this isn't good for him with the few times it's been messed up for one reason or another. I looked at Oliver, who was finishing his last strawberry.

"We better get going, it's way past your bedtime Ollie and you still need a bath." I said.

"No bath!" Oliver argued.

"I know you don't want a bath, but you need one since you've been swimming." I told him.

"Want me to just hose him down upstairs?" Malcolm asked, secretly meaning a shower.

"Yeah!" Oliver said excitedly.

"Just don't make a mess." Ezra and I both said.

We watched as Malcolm led Oliver inside to go wash up, with Fish trailing behind them. Ezra and I started cleaning up the snacks, he gave me a look before taking the plates that I had picked off the table. I started cleaning up the boys' pool toys that were spread around the yard.

"You don't have to help clean up Ar. I think you should take it easy… or you could help clean up if you want." Ezra said trailing off as I glared at him.

"Ez, you can only say things like that if I'm about to pop." I told him.

"Noted. But you know, we will have to come up possible boy names… because whether Oliver likes it or not, there is a possibility the baby will be a boy." Ezra said, and I nodded.

"Got any ideas?" I asked.

As I placed the pool toys in the wicker storage box, Ezra picked up the cups and stacked them all together. It hadn't occurred to me that we'd have to pick names for the baby, now that Oliver is set that we don't have another boy… it's going to be hard to pick out boy names.

"Not really, what about Phoenix?" He suggested.

"Not a fan of it honestly. How do you feel about Flynn or Augustus?" I asked

"I like Flynn, what about Atticus?" He added.

"A lot better than Phoenix. Plus, it'd go with the literature thing we started with Oliver." I told him.

Cleaning up the last of the garbage, I followed Ezra inside and he led me over to the kitchen table. He grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, before writing down the two names that we both liked. Hopefully, Oliver won't throw a tantrum over the fact we're preparing in case the baby is a boy.

"Edward." I said, Ezra set the pen down and gave me a look.

"We are not naming any of our kids after some sparkly vampire. I'm not even going to count Edward as a suggestion, just going to pretend that you didn't say it." Ezra told me, and I jokingly rolled my eyes.

"James." I said, picking the first name that came to my mind.

"I like that a lot more. Jeremiah?" Ezra said, writing down James.

"It's too close to Malcolm's middle name Ez." I pointed out

"Then Jacob." He said, rebuking his previous suggestion.

"I'm team Edward." I joked.

Without saying anything else, Ezra sat his pen down and looked at me again. I still remember when I made him watch the first four movies the summer before I left for school. Of course, it took a lot of persuading and he made me watch Chinatown from start to end for each movie he had to endure. But we ended up getting…. distracted each time he had played Chinatown, at least I can it doesn't put me to sleep anymore.

"Liar, you hated Edward in those sparkly vampire movies." He reminded me, snapping me out of my memories.

"How about Evan?" I asked, he nodded and wrote it down.

"Octivas." Ezra threw out, and we heard one of the boys coming down.

Just then, Oliver appeared in just his underwear and crawled onto my lap. I handed him his bottled water and he gladly drank some. Hopefully, he'll just knock right out instead of wanting a bedtime story tonight. We really need to get Oliver back on his seven twenty bedtime schedule.

"Only I start with O." Oliver snapped.

"Got any suggestions?" Ezra asked him.

"Olivia." Oliver said

"Baby, that's very close to your name." I told him

"And Olivia starts with an O lil man." Ezra added.

"I know, you don't want the baby to be a boy. But you need to know that there is a chance they'll be a boy." I said.

"Only I be baby boy!" Oliver exclaimed.

Ezra and I looked at each other as Oliver scrambled off my lap and stormed upstairs. Neither one of us know how to handle Oliver demanding we don't have another boy. I know that Oliver would try to convince Ella to keep the baby at her house if it is a boy, I did try selling Mike to Lizzie…. So, I wouldn't put it past Oliver to try any of the cliché selling the baby sibling tactics.

..…

Walking into the boys' room, I saw them both in bed and ready for me to read. I've been procrastinating asking the boys about going mini golfing tomorrow since we got back from Ezra's. As much as I want the boys to see Josh as someone that I like very much, I don't want them to feel forced to like him. I sat down on Oliver's bed as he opened his storybook and handed it to me.

"Before I start reading, I want to ask you two something. How would you two feel about going mini golfing with Josh and me tomorrow?" I asked them.

"I like mini golf!" Oliver exclaimed.

"Yeah. Sounds like fun." Malcolm said, I could tell he was hiding something.

"Ollie, why don't you go potty one more time." I told Oliver.

"Don't have to go." He said.

"At least try, you had a lot of water a while ago." I told him.

Oliver sighed as he crawled out of his bed, we watched him walk out of the bedroom. I waited a few moments before walking out to the hallway to make sure he just wasn't sitting out in the hallway, which wouldn't have surprised me.

"Okay, tell me what's bothering you. Honey if you don't want to come, you can tell me. I don't want you to feel as if you have to." I said, sitting next to him.

"I do wanna come... It's just that, I just wish that we could go back to being a family." He said quietly.

"Oh honey. I know everything is still hard to get used to, but right now we just have to adapt to what it is." I said.

"Life kind of sucks." He muttered.

"You know, sometimes I forget you're only twelve with how you act and talk. But can I tell you something?" I said and he nodded.

"It's still hard for me too, getting used to everything." I told him.

…

The boys led me and Josh to last hole of the mini golf course, and I felt his hand brush up against mine. Glancing over at Josh, I gave him a soft smile and took his hand in mine. Caitlyn insisted that I wore my corral pink shark bite tank top with white straps, claiming I need to show off my cute shoulders. As we got to the first hole, Oliver turned around and Josh let go of my hand before he could see our hands together.

"Here mama." Oliver said.

He came over and handed me Bubba. He had been set on bringing Bubba with, even though I told him it would be best he was left in the car. Mostly, because I knew that I'd end up holding Bubba most of the night or worse, Oliver would leave Bubba somewhere and lose him. I'm shocked that he hadn't left Bubba somewhere at all tonight. So far, the boys really like Josh… at least that's it seems like at least. Malcolm and Josh have been talking about sports almost the entire time, Oliver on the other hand has been acting shy all night. Despite that he already knows Josh, perhaps it was too soon for them to be meeting Josh like this. Especially Oliver, even more since his tantrum about I had a date with Josh and not Ezra.

"I like your lamb Oliver." Josh said.

"Thank you. His name is Bubba." Oliver told him

"That is the coolest name ever!" Josh exclaimed.

"I know." Oliver said, seeming to be less shy

"Go hit your last ball baby." I told him.

Oliver walked back over by Malcolm and placed his ball on the grass. Josh and I looked at each other as Malcolm was reminding Oliver how to gently swing his putter. After hitting the ball, he came over by me and reached for Bubba. Malcolm hit his ball then Josh hit his, Oliver followed me as I hit my ball and took my hand in his.

"Your turn Ollie." I reminded him.

"Will you hold Bubba?" He asked Josh.

"I can totally hold Bubba for you." Josh told him, taking Bubba.

Josh and I shared a look, I'm guessing Oliver really is warming up to Josh. He doesn't let a lot of people hold Bubba, but apparently Josh is one of the few. Out of all the girls, only Caitlyn can hold him if I'm not. Looking between the ball and the hole, Oliver dragged it with his putter. We clapped when the ball went into the hole, getting Oliver to giggle.

"My ball is gone!" Oliver exclaimed, looking into the hole.

"That's because it went back to lady who gave us the balls." Josh told him.

Josh handed Bubba back to Oliver, and I can tell is getting tired. Hopefully, he won't want me to read a story and will just want snuggled tonight. Oliver looked up at me and lifted his arms, I picked him up and he rested his head on my shoulder. While Malcolm and Josh took their turns, I struggled to give Oliver snuggles and hold my ball and putter.

"Mama's gotta put you down real quick." I told Oliver.

"No!" He started crying.

"What if I held you?" Josh asked, receiving a nod.

I handed Oliver over to Josh, who somehow calmed down the second he was settled in Josh's arms. Malcolm and I made a face at each other as I went to hit my final ball. After a couple of misses, I finally got it in the hole. Offering to take Oliver back from Josh, both of them shook their heads. Either Oliver really likes Josh… or he's a lot more tired then he's showing. We headed back to the building to return our putters and Oliver seemed to have woken up a bit.

"You have my ball?" Oliver asked, and I mouthed blue.

"I do, it's right here!" The girl said, holding up a random blue ball.

"That's cool, isn't it Ollie?" Malcolm asked, receiving a nod.

…

As Josh pulled into the driveway, I turned to see Oliver had fallen asleep in his car seat and Malcolm was on the verge of falling asleep. Neither of the boys definitely won't want a bedtime story tonight, which hurts even though I was kind of hoping that it would happen. Pretty soon the baby will be here, and who knows if I'll be able to tell them a story every night. Malcolm gently shook Oliver awake as we were getting out of the car.

"Thanks for coming guys." Josh said

"Thank you for bringing us." Malcolm responded.

"Thank you." Oliver said barely audible.

"Okay you two, go on inside and get ready for bed. I'll be up in a few minutes to tuck you in Ollie." I told the boys.

"Bye Ollie, bye Malcolm." Josh said.

The boys waved to Josh as Malcolm led Oliver inside. Turning my attention to getting Oliver's car seat out, I saw Josh already had it out. Wow he's fast, I took the car seat from him and he brushed some hair behind my ear.

"I had a really good time tonight." I said as he walked me to the porch.

"So did I, I'm glad you said yes. I know things moved quickly between us these past few days, but I know that I don't want to see anybody else. And I'm hoping you feel the same." He said.

Looking into his eyes, I gently cupped his face and pressed my lips to his. Even though I hadn't been sure about even going on a date with him in the first place, he makes me happy and I really do like him. It's like he was always meant to me be the one that pulls me from whatever funk I had been about Ezra.

"I definitely feel the same." I whispered.

"Eww!"

We turned our heads to see Oliver, looking at us through the window with a disgusted facial expression. Pulling away from Josh, I raised an eyebrow at him and opened the door. How long has he been there instead of getting ready for bed? He's not even in his pajamas, which means he probably hadn't brushed his teeth yet.

"Oliver, aren't you supposed to be getting ready for bed?" I asked.

"Bubba still in the car mama." He said, on the verge of having a meltdown about it.

"I will get Bubba; you go get ready for bed like I told you. By the time I come up there, I want to see you in bed Oliver." I told him

He scrambled upstairs and Josh led me back towards his car and unlocked it for me. I saw that Bubba was right next to where Oliver's car seat had been and picked him up. I'm surprised that Oliver even forgot about him in the first place, he loves Bubba more than anything… Although I did assume that he would leave Bubba at the mini golf course somewhere. Closing the door, Josh gave me a small smile before pressing his lips to mine once more. I wrapped an arm around his neck as he pinned me up against the car.

"I better go make sure Oliver's in bed and give him bubba before he has a meltdown." I whispered.

"Okay, I'll see you later." He said.

…

Next day

Ezra and I were sitting at his kitchen table, trying to figure out how we're going to put together Oliver's birthday party in such a short amount of time. With being Spencer's maid of honor, I almost forgot about my own child's birthday party…. Oh shit! I wasn't here for Malcolm's birthday and didn't get to do anything with him for it! Yeah, I definitely deserve the best mommy in the world cup the boys gave me for Mother's Day_._ I shared a look with Ezra and we both knew that we should have Oliver help out since it is his birthday party.

"Ollie, can you pause your cartoons and come here? Daddy and I need to talk to you about your birthday party." I called out.

We watched Oliver, look at the remote and pressing the mute button. Giggling, he ran over here and crawled up onto his chair. He took looked at us and I brushed some hair out of his face, I hate how fast these years have gone. Feels like only yesterday that Ezra and I brought Oliver home from the hospital.

"What kind of theme do you want your party to be lil man?" Ezra asked.

"Huh?" Oliver asked, quite confused.

"What the party is about." Ezra explained.

"Thought it about me." Oliver said, reaching for the crackers.

Ezra and I looked at one another, trying not to laugh. I handed Oliver a couple of crackers for him to snack on. There's so much to do with both the wedding AND his birthday, we'll figure something out for Oliver's birthday. We've been doing that for the past three years when we came home for summer, although last year was the hardest to do. Malcolm had to be in New Jersey for his soccer camp the same day I left for London, and Ezra had to start off his book tour. Which is why we ended up doing Ollie's birthday in March over Spring break.

"Theme is just the decorations. Do you remember your Elmo party last year?" I asked.

"Please no Elmo, I'm a big boy!" Oliver said, matter of factly.

"Do duckies have birthday parties mama?" He asked, randomly changing the subject

"I'm not sure." I said.

"Can we throw a party for the duckies?" Oliver asked

"Maybe, but we need to focus on your party right now." I told him.

Malcolm walked into the house with Fish. I hate the fact Malcolm can't bring Fish over when its my week with the boys, hopefully Ezra and I can work something out if I end up renting a house. He unleashed Fish before walking over and sitting down next to me.

"What about a circus?" Ezra suggested.

"No daddy! Clowns are scary." Oliver told him and Ezra looked at me.

"Like mother, like son." He chuckled and I jokingly rolled my eyes at him.

Glancing at the time on my phone, I saw it's an hour before I have to get to work. Ella said that she could watch the boys tonight since I have to work, she learned a new recipe that she thought the boys and Luna might like. Ezra said he would keep the boys longer, but he and Nicole are going to the movies later.

"We better get going you two, I need to get ready for work and drop you off at Grandma and Grandpa's." I said, looking between the boys.

"I could drop them off if you want." Ezra said as the boys went to go get their stuff.

"Thanks, but Ella's making some new recipe for the kids, and sending me to work with some for later." I told him, getting up from my chair

"What's she making?" He asked.

"Some smokey chorizo cheesy pasta she saw on Pinterest." I told him, the boys came running down with the things they usually bring back and forth.

"I'll see you boys later, have fun with mom and behave for Grandma." Ezra told the boys

…..

Walking into The Grille, Josh gave me a smile from the host stand. I walked over and he brushed his lips against my cheek. At least there's barely anyone here, and they're not going to throw a fit that he kissed my cheek. Chloe came out from the kitchen as I put my food in the stand.

"Are you trying to steal my job Rohland?" I teased him.

"Not at all, just thinking about you." He said as Chloe came up.

"Ugh, you two are disgustingly cute." She joked.

I held back my laughter, as I started punching into the system. One of the tables started flagging Josh down, he gave me a small smile before going to go check on them. There is nothing that could ruin my night tonight. It looks like things are finally getting better.

**AN – Nothing could ruin her night…. Right? ALSO EMAYA ARE ENGAGED & ADOPTING! Spoby's wedding is coming up soon, trust me it's going to be the fictional wedding you won't want to miss… that's all I'm gonna tease. Please do send names for Both Ezria's baby and Spoby's baby. Also don't forget to let me know whether you're team boy or girl for both Ezria & Spoby babies.**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Aria's pov

I walked back to the host stand from my break and saw Ezra with Nicole on a date, telling her about his book Ostinato. Chloe smiled at me as George and Audrey Cadwell walked in with their nine year old granddaughter Amy. According to the Cadwells, I'm their favorite hostess and always trying to give me tips even though I'm not allowed to take their tips.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Cadwell! Amy, I see you're on the last Hunger games book." I greeted them.

Grabbing their menus, I led them to their usual booth and heard Ezra talking about his book tour that he had last summer. Luckily for me, I was able to get to one of his stops before I had left for London and he got to see Oliver one last time.

"What's Ostinato about?" Nicole asked.

"My relationship with Aria." Ezra told her and I flashed back to our last full summer we had together.

_Flashback (Summer, 2012)_

_Ezra and I were lying in bed, cuddling before the boys wake up. Of course, Oliver almost hadn't fallen back asleep after waking us up at five thirty and neither of us were able to fall back asleep. As Ezra wrapped his arms around me, he pressed his lips to my temple. I looked up to see that he was just looking at me and I caressed his face before pressing my lips to his._

"_I think you should write about our love story." I whispered._

"_Well, we could always write our own books; in our own points of view then co-write another book. Bringing both of our books together." Ezra suggested, brushing some hair out of my eye and slowly trailing his fingers along my jaw._

_He lifted my chin, brushing his lips against mine and gently pulled me on top of him. Giggling, I cupped his face and deepened the kiss. As he started trailing his hands up and down my back, we heard Oliver start whimpering and pulled apart. Getting off the bed, I took his hand in mine and led him out of our room._

"_Ostinato." Ezra whispered as we walked into the nursery._

"_What?" I asked._

_Oliver was standing up in his crib, waiting for us and held his arms out when he saw us. Ezra gently picked Oliver up, and led us downstairs. I could hear Malcolm getting out of bed, he usually does wake up by the time we get to the kitchen to make Oliver's breakfast now. Both Ezra and Malcolm have been planning for days to make blueberry pancakes this morning, so obviously Malcolm's excited for that. Ezra placed Oliver into his highchair as I sliced some strawberries to go with the cheerios for Oliver._

"_Ostinato, a constantly recurring melodic fragment. You're my ostinato baby." Ezra told me, brushing his lips against mine._

"_Eww." Malcolm said, grossed out as he came into the kitchen._

_End of Flashback_

"Kelly will be your waitress tonight and she'll be with you shortly. And Amy, you gotta tell me your review of The Hunger Games series the next time I see you." I said, snapping out of my flashback.

"Tell me about Malcolm's mom." I heard Nicole.

The Cadwells and Amy gave me a smile as I walked away to let them enjoy their evening. How could I have forgotten about that, this entire time his book has been about us and our story! I don't remember reading his book when it got published, did I even read it? Wait, does Nicole not know I'm legally Malcolm's mother?

"Aria is Malcolm's mother." Ezra said as I walked by.

"I meant his actual mom." Nicole said.

Walking back to the host stand, I took a deep breath as Graham walked over concerned. I carefully shook my head, careful not to let Ezra or Nicole see. Disregarding me as Malcolm's mother… what's her plan with that? It's not like she'll be able to adopt him, he is MY son… whether she likes it or not. Taking a deep breath, I reminded myself that Nicole may not know what happened senior year with Maggie.

"Aria's been his mother, practically since the day they met. Aria adopted Malcolm, legally making her his mother." Ezra snapped.

"She's just his stepmother, it doesn't matter if she-." Nicole tried, god what's her problem?

"Are you okay Aria?" Graham asked concerned.

"No, I need to break something… right now." I told him, and followed him into the kitchen

….

Ezra's pov

"She's just his stepmother, it doesn't matter if she-." Nicole argued, I held my hand up to stop her from talking.

I stared at Nicole in shock and anger that she would disregard Aria as Malcolm's mother like that. That's like her trying to claim I'm not either Malcolm or Oliver's father. As the words came out of her mouth, I saw Aria follow Graham back into the kitchen… oh my god, she must have heard Nicole.

"Aria IS Malcolm's mother, ever since she adopted him. Even before she adopted Malcolm, she acted more of a mother than my mother ever did to me." I told her.

Before she could say anything, there was a loud crash in the kitchen. Along with quite a few other people, we all looked towards the kitchen. Shit, Aria had heard everything Nicole had said. Just as I opened my mouth, Aria walked out from the kitchen and out of the restaurant with Graham. Chloe came out of the kitchen as well. Looking over in my direction me a look, which I knew meant not to follow Aria because it'd only hurt her more. I hate knowing what these looks mean, but it sucks more knowing that I can't go try to talk to Aria about it.

"Nicole, you need to respect Aria as Malcolm's mother…. Or this relationship isn't going to work. I will not have you disrespecting her, as a person or as the mother of my children." I said.

….

Aria's pov

My hands shook as I turned the page of Ezra's book and blinked back tears. It hurts knowing he wrote these words and making sure I always knew how he truly feels our entire relationship…. Just for him to walk away for another relationship so easily. This feels like when Ezra had been giving me mixed signals my junior year of high school, but he's the one seeing someone else. Shutting my book. I threw it across the room just as Toby walked in through the door. Chloe must have told him what went down when he came over to see me after he got off work.

Seeing my tear streaked face, he hurried over and pulled me into a hug. It feels like every time I start feeling better about it everything… something happens, knocking me back down to tears. This shouldn't be making me so emotional anymore, I'm dating Josh damnit!

"I shouldn't be crying over him anymore Tobes!" I sobbed.

"There's so much history and a lot has happened recently between you two." He gently pointed out, rubbing my back.

Taking a deep breath, I stood back up with his help and walked over towards where Ezra's book was sprawled open on the floor. Picking it back up, I saw it was on the dedication page; _'For you Aripop, you'll always be my Ostinato. B-26 forever… just like my love for you.' _He wrote all these words about me, about us and our relationship… but walked away to be with someone else without a second thought! I walked back over to Toby and placed the book down. Feeling my blood boil, I pulled both my rings off and he stared at me in shock as I slammed them on the counter.

"It's over! I can't have any hope that he'll just walk through that door to be with me. Maggie left Malcolm with no goodbye or anything! I was there for him; I am his mother not Maggie or anyone else!" I yelled, he pulled me into his arms as I bursted into tears again.

"Malcolm is MY son." I choked out

"I know." He whispered.

"Remember junior year, you told me that Ezra and I will have a happily ever after?" I asked, receiving a nod.

"You were wrong, there was never going to be a happily ever after for us." I whispered.

…

Aria's pov – next morning

Ezra and I were sitting with Peter and Richard in the Rosewood office of Hastings & Associates Law. Signing the divorce papers have been pretty easy so far, considering the fact we already had the papers drawn up in case either of us had gotten into a serious relationship while I was at school. Luckily for Ezra, he hasn't pissed me off like I had warned him not to due to my mood swings today. Neither of us had brought up what happened last night… and I'm not sure I even want to have that conversation at all.

"We've gone over everything except for who will take ownership of the house." Richard said, looking at us over his glasses.

"Aria should have the house." Ezra said before I could say anything.

"I don't want the house." I told him.

"It's only right that you get the house Aria, it pretty much came from your grandparents." He said and I felt my anger starting to rise.

"Get this through your thick skull. I do NOT want it, because I don't to live in a house full of the memories and plans that we had made!" I snapped, grabbing my purse and storming out.

Opening my car door, I heard someone running after me. If it's Ezra, he can go screw himself. Why should I have to live in the house that we bought together, made all the plans for our future and the sweet memories? He's the one that walked away, the one that decided to get divorced…. HE should live in the pain NOT me!

"Aria!" Ezra called out.

"Go to hell!" I yelled at him, getting into my car.

I pulled away from the curb and sped off as he hurried after me. Glancing in my rearview mirror, I saw that he was standing in the middle of the street and walking away as he realized I wasn't coming back. He always talked about proposing again, after I came home from college and that I deserved to have the wedding of my dreams. I didn't care about having a wedding with our friends or family, or even a honeymoon. But all I ever wanted… was just to spend the rest of my life with him, and now it's gone.

…

Ezra's pov (a little while later)

Nicole and I were at the Grille having lunch while the boys were at the park with Dani. Aria refused to answer any of my texts or calls, so I decided to give her some space. But I need to tell Nicole about the baby, I should have told her when I met her…. I might still be with Aria if I had. As she came back from the restroom, I noticed that she had the same shade of hazel in her eyes that Aria has. I picked up my roast beef sandwich as she settled back into her chair.

"So, there's something I wanted to talk to you about." I said, setting my sandwich back down.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Aria's pregnant, I found out before we met." I told her.

She didn't say anything as she set her fork down and glanced out the window. I couldn't bring myself to tell her about kissing Aria awhile back, even though I should tell her everything. But Aria being pregnant is a little more important than the few times we've kissed. But it was pretty obvious that she was hurt about Aria being pregnant and I took so long to tell her.

"Ezra, this…. the whole baby thing, that changes everything for us." She pointed out.

"I know." I said

Before she could respond, some child started crying. Wait a minute, that sounds like Oliver. I turned around to see Oliver crying at the host stand with Chloe, she pointed me out and he came running towards me. Why is he crying, and where the hell is Malcolm? Looking at me worriedly, she saw that I was just as confused and went to look for Malcolm. Oliver came up, not crying as much as when he had first walked in.

"Tell mama to cancel the baby!" He told me through his tears.

I quickly pulled him onto my lap and grabbed napkin to wipe his now runny nose. Something happened at the park, something that made Oliver run off… oh god, what if something had happened to him on his way here? Anything could have happened, and I know Aria won't like hearing that Oliver ran off.

"Hey, what's the matter Oliver? And where's your brother?" I asked as Malcolm ran up

"Where's Ashleigh?" Nicole asked, and I realized Ashleigh wasn't with them.

"She's still at the park with Dani." Malcolm told her.

Oliver sniffled into my chest and I kissed the top of his head. He wasn't crying loudly anymore, but some people still shot dirty looks our way. I rubbed his back and gave him a napkin to wipe his nose again. He had been excited about the baby, but now he doesn't want the baby to come?

"What happened?" I asked.

"I DON'T WANT THE DUMB BABY!" Oliver yelled, tears rolling down his face.

"Oliver, I know you're upset but we don't yell in restaurants." I told him.

He began crying again and I shared a look with Nicole, this was not how I pictured telling Nicole any of this. Our waiter came over just as I signaled for the check and handed it over to me. I quickly signed the check and looked at Nicole once more. This was definitely NOT the way this should have gone.

"I'll call you later." I told her and rushed the boys out.

"Why don't we go talk to mama, okay Ollie?" I suggested and he nodded.

"Malcolm, why don't you go back to the park? Just be home before dinner." I told Malcolm.

I took Oliver's hand in mine, as Malcolm ran back towards the park. Leading him to the car, I quickly got him into his car seat and gave him my old Hollis zip up hoodie to hold onto. He didn't look at me as I buckled him in, whatever happened at the park… hopefully he'll tell us what it is. Shutting Oliver's door, I rushed to my side and got in before quickly starting the car. As I drove down the street, it brought me back to Aria driving away this morning…. I need to have a conversation with her about last night and this morning.

…

Aria looked up from her laptop as I walked through Hardy's door with Oliver. As I let go of his hand, he ran towards Aria and she quickly picked him up. This is the worse way for us to meet after everything Nicole said last night and what had happened this morning when we went over the divorce papers, wait a minute… how are we supposed to tell the boys about the divorce? Wait, that's not important right now. I walked over and sat on the floor next to them. As Aria rubbed Oliver's back, we shared a look and I noticed how adorable she looks with her reading glasses on… I need to stop, now is not the time! Oliver cried into her and she looked at me worriedly.

"What happened?" She asked me.

"Mama, cancel the dumb baby." Oliver cried before I could say anything.

"We can't cancel the baby, your sibling still coming." Aria told him, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"You love the dumb baby more than me." Oliver sobbed.

"Oliver, stop calling the baby dumb." I told him.

"They are a dumb baby!" He cried.

"Oliver Scott go to your room. We'll be up in a little bit to talk when you've had time to think." Aria told him.

Oliver bursted into tears again, mumbling about how we love the baby more than him as he stomped up the stairs and into his bedroom. We both sighed and I helped her up from the floor, both us of stayed silent as we didn't know what to say. After this morning, I've been trying to figure out what to say to her about everything.

"How come we never prepared ourselves for this?" She asked, breaking the silence.

"Maybe because we didn't think this could happen. But Aria, we both know you're Mal-." I started to say.

"I'm not talking about that." She said, cutting me off and grabbing a water.

"Aria I need you to know this; there's no way in hell I'm ever going to let her or anyone disregard you like that. But can we talk about this morning?" I asked.

"I had warned you." She reminded me.

"I know. If you really don't want the house, I think you should have the loft then. I know the owner and get some strings pulled." I said

"Oh, I found that I still have a couple of your things." She said, changing the subject.

She led me upstairs to her room and went into her closet. I looked over at one of the picture frames, seeing a picture of Oliver with that one guy that Aria loves from Glee. Damn, I should've been there more for him… for her. God, times like these I wish I had a time machine to do everything differently.

"It still seems unreal that not long after that picture, Cory died." Aria said softly and led me back downstairs.

"Want me to carry that?" I asked, motioning to the box.

"It's your stuff." She joked and handing it over to me.

"Hey! I've been wondering where this hoodie went, now I understand why I never found it. Wow, I forgot I even lent this book to you. But I want you to keep these, they're yours." I told her, handing the rings and Aripop necklace back to her.

"Ezra, this was your grandmother's ring. I'm not keeping it; it belongs to you not me." She said, handing the engagement ring back.

Malcolm walked in through the front door with Dani, talking about some little kid that looked like Oliver. As they walked into the kitchen, we heard Hardy pull up in the driveway. Since Malcolm is home now, maybe we can get some answers about what had happened at the park.

"Okay, so what had happened today at the park?" I asked Malcolm.

"Ashleigh told Oliver that you two aren't going to love him anymore after the baby comes." Malcolm said.

Without saying a word, Aria rushed upstairs and into the boys room. God, why the hell would Ashleigh say that to Oliver? I looked over at Malcolm and Dani as we heard commotion all around upstairs. I started heading upstairs.

"EZRA CALL THE POLICE, OLIVER'S NOT HERE." Aria yelled.

"That might've been Oliver we saw! Let's go try and find him." Dani told Malcolm.

As they ran outside to look for Oliver, I rushed upstairs to see Aria sitting in the middle of the boys room with Oliver's blankets ripped from his bed. I quickly sat down next to her and gently cupped her face with my hands, wiping the tears from her eyes with my thumb. God, it kills me to see her cry. I started dialing Toby's number just as the front door opened. Kissing Aria's forehead, I got up and rushed downstairs to see Hardy walking in… holding Oliver's hand. I sighed of relief and rushed over to him, pulling him into a hug.

"I saw him over by the high school." Hardy said.

"Oliver Scott Fitz, why did you run away?" I asked, releasing him from the hug.

"You and mama don't love me no more." He cried.

"Hey, we love you more than anything. I was about to call the police and Mama is worried sick about you." I told him.

"Why don't we go see mama, come on lil man." I said.

…..

Aria's pov

I couldn't make out the voices downstairs, but we need to go find Oliver now! If Ezra hasn't called the cops yet, I'm going to kill him! Our son is out there somewhere; and I need go to find my baby! There were footsteps coming up the stairs as I started fixing Oliver's bed. He could be hurt… oh god, my baby could be hurt! The footsteps came into the room and I turned to see Ezra holding Oliver's hand. As Ezra let go, I pulled Oliver into my arms and planted kisses on his cheek. My baby's okay… thank god.

"You and daddy don't love me no more." Oliver sniffled as I kissed his forehead.

"Baby, I was about to set the whole world on fire to find you. Do you know how much I love you Ollie?" I asked.

"A lot until the baby comes." He whispered.

"No, I love you for infinity." I said.

"What's intinity?" He asked.

I gently scooped him up and sat him onto my lap. How did Ashleigh manage to convince him I could just not love him anymore after the baby comes? Brushing some of his hair out his eyes, I gently kissed his nose and rested my forehead against his.

"Infinity is forever, it never ends. Just because the baby is coming, does not mean I'm going to love you any less or love the baby any more than you." I whispered.

"Promise?" He asked, and I wiped away his tears.

"Ollie baby, nothing could make me love you any less. You're always going to be my baby boy; guess what?" I asked. With tears still in his eyes, he looked up at me

"Your brother or sister loves you infinity too." I told him softly

"Daddy is always going to love you too Ollie, no matter what. But you're still in trouble for running away." Ezra told him

"Why?" Oliver asked

"Because you ran away, me and mama didn't know where you were. Something could have happened to you and running away from home is never the answer." Ezra told him.

"Are you gonna take bubba away?" Oliver asked

"No baby, we are never going to take bubba away as a punishment." I promised him.

…..

Few days later

I walked into The Grille for work and stopped dead in my tracks. Alison was sitting alone at a booth, what the hell is she doing here? Oh god, there's a chance she could run into the boys. There has to be a reason Peter hadn't told us about her being released for the weekend, just like when Mona had been released. My heart started racing as Graham came over to me. What if she goes near Malcolm or Oliver, oh my god… she could hurt them!

"I didn't know she was released already." I whispered as Alison hurried over to us with a fake ass smile on her face.

"Aria! It's been too long since I've seen you!" Alison exclaimed, wrapping me in a hug and I forced her arms off of me.

"You stay the hell away from me and my kids you psychotic bitch!" I snapped, feeling my heart race.

"That's not a nice way to speak to your dear sister Aria." She slyly and the room seemed to start spinning.

"What are you talking about?" I asked as I tried to regain my composure.

"You'd think college would've made you smarter, we're sisters…. Ask Ella if you don't believe me." She said and everything went black.

**AN – Oh its getting crazy in Rosewood! First Oliver runs away and now Alison has been released; but do you think it's for good? I'm going to try to get chapter 17 out next week, but I can't fully promise that I'll be able to post it. Don't forget to send in name suggestions for Ezria and Spoby, along with whether you're team boy or girl. **


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Aria's pov

I opened my eyes to see that I wasn't at work anymore, but at the hospital. Groaning, I looked around to see Ezra sitting next to my bed as he realized I was awake. Everything that happened is really blurry to me, all I remember is seeing Alison and then nothing. But I still have her voice in my head, like there was something important she said.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Alison had been released for the weekend; you had some words with her before losing consciousness." He said, helping me sit up.

"Is the baby okay?" I asked worriedly and he nodded.

"But you should know, they did a transvaginal ultrasound as well as a regular one. Something about double checking something, I only said yes because I knew you'd want to know." He told me.

Just then, Dr. Hall walked in with my case folder and an unreadable facial expression. Oh my god what if something IS wrong with the baby? It'd be all my fault if something happened, I'm supposed to be protecting my baby! Ezra slipped his hand in mine and gave me a soft smile, sensing exactly what I was thinking.

"I have some good news. When I had done the regular ultrasound, there was a second heartbeat and I did the transvaginal to make sure the baby didn't have PVC. Here's the good news; neither of the babies have PVC." Dr. Hall told us.

"Babies? As in… more than one?" I asked, sharing a look with Ezra.

"Yes, you two are going to have twins! I'm sure this is a lot to take in, but would you two like to know the sex of the twins?" She asked.

Oh my god, we're having twins! That means doubling food, clothes, toys, diaper changes… EVERYTHING! But twins don't run in my family or Ezra's, how the hell did we get twins? How am I supposed to take care of two babies AND Oliver and Malcolm? I can tell right now that I'll be losing my sanity. Ezra and I shared another look, we have to know the sex of the twins because Oliver is still set on sending the baby to Ella if they're a boy.

"Yes, we wanna know." I told her.

"Both twins are… girls." She said, giving us a smile before leaving us alone.

"Twins…. Least Ollie can't send them to live with Ella now." Ezra joked.

…..

Ezra and I were sitting in his living room, it's been two hours since the hospital released me and I'm still stressed from everything. _"We're sisters…. Ask Ella if you don't believe me."_ Her voice rang in my head. That's what caused me to faint! Byron cheated on Ella with Mrs. Dilaurentis? If she cheated with Mr. Hastings, she could've also cheated with Byron. Wait a minute; Alison and Mrs. D were both twins that turned out to be completely evil! If Alison is telling the truth, then I really am related to her… does that mean one of my twins will end up with the same fate as them? Either murdered or in a mental institutional prison?

"Hey, what's the matter?" Ezra asked, concerned

"What if one of our twins turns out just like Alison?" I asked softly.

"Hey, where is this coming from Ar?" He asked and I sighed.

"Alison said that we're… half-sisters." I said.

"You sure she just wasn't trying to get a rise out of you?" He suggested and I shook my head

"She said to ask Ella." I told him.

He didn't say anything as he comprehended everything. Now he knows that I share blood with the demon queen that made the last two years of my high school education a living hell. But why wouldn't anyone tell me that I share the same blood as her? Who knows what any of our kids will do since they also share the same blood, except for Malcolm. He got lucky by not having me as his biological mother.

"Should we start looking for girl names?" He asked, changing the subject and I was grateful for it.

"Yeah, but they should have more individual names." I told him.

"I like that." He agreed

He picked up one of the expecting books off the coffee table as we both tried to come up with some names, I know I do want to suggest his grandmother's name but I want to do it at the right time. He never mentioned the possibility of Scott being a middle name when I had been pregnant with Oliver until after I gave birth. From the stories he told me, he was super close to his grandmother before she died and he lost all contact with Paul and that side of his family.

"Daisy, obviously the baby wouldn't trigger your allergies." He joked, and I nodded.

"Juliet." I said.

"Not really liking that. Arizona." He suggested.

"I'm fifty/fifty on it, so Arizona is a maybe. How about Josephine?" I asked.

"That's a good one, where'd you get that?" He inquired and I stared at him.

"Ez, it's your grandmother's name." I reminded him.

"Oh, right, I like that. How about Rowan? It's more of a gender neutral name." He said.

"I really like Rowan. What about Katherine?" I asked.

Neither of us said anything as he wrote it down. Even though we still have time to pick out names, we have to pick out names for two babies AND two middle names. There are so many names to choose from, and some of them are those matching twin names. But this wasn't how we were supposed to be choosing names for our babies, we were supposed to be snuggled up with my head on his chest with us being together…. But this is how it's happening – opposite sides of the couch and us NOT together.

…

Few days later

"Wake up mama."

I opened my eyes to see Oliver standing next to my bed, staring at me. If it's not my morning sickness that's waking me up, it him. Truth be told, sometimes I'd prefer if morning sickness woke me up instead because of how early he'd wake me up. But he has been waking me up earlier than usual since we moved into the loft and I wish he wouldn't do it so early.

"Mhm, what time is it?" I asked, not wanting to get up.

"Six four three." He said, reading my phone and I groaned at the time.

"Ollie baby, we don't need to be up yet." I told him, as he crawled onto my bed and crawled over me to the free space on my bed.

"But I'm awake_ now _mama." He huffed.

"Oliver, either watch tv quietly or lay with me until it's time get up." I told him.

I gave him one of my throw blankets to snuggle with, hopefully he'll go back to sleep for a little bit longer so I can have just a tiny bit more sleep. Rolling over, I closed my eyes once more and felt myself start to fall back to sleep.

"Mama." Oliver said, snapping me back awake.

"Yes baby?" I mumbled.

"When will my sissy be here?" He asked.

"Around Christmas." I told him, as he crawled over and snuggled up to me.

"Will we still be here when sissy comes?" He asked, poking my eyeball.

"Oliver, I love you… please let mama sleep." I said, moving his hand away.

"But mama I have questions." He huffed as he poked my eye again.

Sighing, I sat up and rubbed my now hurting eye. Obviously, he's not going to let me fall back asleep anytime soon. Maybe I can catch a nap after I drop him off at camp. I picked him up and headed downstairs to make him some breakfast, if only I can have a large expresso because… it's quite obvious I am going to need it today. As I looked for something to make him, we could hear Ezra and Sabrina opening up the Brew downstairs.

"Let's say hi to daddy!" He said excitedly.

"We're not going in our pajamas, go get dressed. And I don't want to hear you waking brother up." I told him.

He led me upstairs and we went into our own rooms. Running a hand through my hair, I looked through my closet and found my grey dress with red polka dots and quickly changed. Oliver came in as I pulled my denim jacket on over my dress. He had his short sleeve orange and blue plaid button down with grey shorts. But he hadn't buttoned up his shirt at all.

"Look mama, I dressed myself!" He told me.

"Good job! But do you need mama to do your buttons?" I asked, receiving a nod and quickly buttoned his shirt up.

"There you go baby, come on." I told him.

He lifted his arms up for me to pick him up, which I gladly did. I carried him downstairs until he started squirming to get down at the door. He tried opening the door with no luck and looked up to me. Unlocking the door, I opened the door for him and he led me down to the brew. Where Ezra and Sabrina were finishing the preparations to open up.

"Hi daddy! I woke me and mama up" Oliver said and ran towards Ezra, who picked him up.

"Regular coffee or something else?" He asked, looking at me.

Ezra stood Oliver back on the ground and motioned for us to sit on the couch, I still remember all the times when I would do my homework next to Malcolm and he'd try to help me with my complicated calculus problems. Pretty soon, both the boys will be doing sitting here as they do their homework. Wait, do kindergarteners even get homework? Holy crap, my baby is about to start kindergarten.

"I'm still too tired to understand, so surprise me." I said.

He chuckled before standing up and going to go make my drink as Oliver came back with two blueberry muffin. I pulled him up onto my lap as he bit one of the muffins. I brushed his hair a bit with my fingers, getting him to giggle and hand me the other muffin.

"Yours." He told me with his mouth full.

Ezra came back and placed an iced vanilla almond mocha on the table in front of me, sitting down next to me. Oliver crawled off my lap, to get onto Ezra's. As he continued eating his muffin, he pulled out a bunch of game and real money out of his pocket. I think now would be good time to start teaching him about real money and saving up money for something he'd absolutely want. Catching Ezra's eye, we shared a look and we both knew we were thinking the same.

"I need a money folder for my moneys." Oliver told us.

"We can get you a money folder tomorrow lil man." Ezra promised him

…

I took a sip of my mocha as Oliver told Ezra about his day at camp yesterday. Do I need to take Malcolm anywhere today? Yesterday was Wednesday, so he had his soccer training already… Thursdays he has nothing going on where I'd have to drive him. If neither Ezra or I are driving him somewhere, it's usually either Pastor Kane or Brian's parents that offer to drive them. Glancing at my phone; I realized it was seven forty and Oliver needs to be at camp pretty soon. Ezra excused himself from Oliver since Kevin was having difficulty with the cash register and a customer was starting to get angry.

"Baby, I know you wanna keep hanging with daddy, but it's almost time for you to be at camp. Plus, you'll be with daddy tonight and it's his week with you and Malcolm. Go say bye to everyone" I told him.

He saw Sabrina and went over to say goodbye to her, as I quickly cleaned up Oliver's money. Ezra realized that we were leaving and walked over to them and picked Oliver up, carefully flipping him upside down. As I tossed my now empty cup into the garbage, Ezra came over with Oliver still upside down in his arms.

"Let me know if you need anything throughout the day, and I'll see you guys tonight." He said, I nodded.

Setting Oliver down, Ezra quickly brushed his lips against my cheek. Realizing what he was doing, he quickly pulled away and I couldn't look at him. How does this keep happening? Actually, its more like why. I grabbed my purse and looked at Ezra, but not into his eyes… I can't look into his eyes, not after that.

"Yeah, I'll let you know if I need anything and we'll you tonight." I said quickly.

I took Oliver hand and walked him outside and towards my car. My mind is racing, how can Ezra keep kissing me when we're not together? He's dating Nicole and I just started seeing Josh! But it was just on my cheek, that's innocent right? Although now that I think about it, it was pretty close to my mouth… okay! I need to stop thinking about it and worry about getting Oliver to camp on time. Giving Oliver the remote, I helped him unlock my car before getting him into his car seat. I watched as he buckled himself in.

"You all buckled up?" I asked and he nodded.

"How is a baby born? Do they come out of your belly button mama?" Oliver asked the second I was in my seat.

Oh my god! I knew these questions were going to be coming, I just didn't think it would be this soon. Hopefully, he won't have many questions or ask his camp teachers any of them. Though I think he'd ask Caitlyn out of any of the teachers there… oh god, what if he asks his friends?

"What I tell you; is not to be repeated to your friends. Got it? This is a conversations your friends can only have with their mommies and daddies." I explained and he nodded.

"There are times where the baby does come out of the belly. But babies also come out a special hole that mommies have." I told him.

I silently sighed as he seemed fine with that response. Hopefully, he really won't tell anyone even though I told him not too. Maybe it'd be best to keep him home today, it's not like I have work today anyway. Plus, if he has any other questions, he can just ask me. No… he needs to go to camp and play with his friends. Starting the car, I glanced back to see that he was clearly thinking about something. As I started pulling away from the curb, he spoke up

"Tell me about when I born." He said.

"Uncle Toby delivered you." I told him, hoping that would be enough.

"What about daddy?" He asked

"You know what, why don't you stay home today and I can answer all your questions." I suggested.

"Okay!" He said happily whether it was because he gets to spend the day with me or that he just doesn't have to go to camp is beyond me.

…..

That night

The girls and I were sitting around the living room, everyone except for Spencer and Toby are already here. Although I'm trying not to let it show, everyone can tell there's some tension between me and Nicole. If Ezra thought by bringing Nicole tonight was going to resolve everything that she said about me…. He's completely wrong. Luckily, Oliver hasn't said anything to anyone about what I told him when it came to babies or when Toby and I were kidnapped. While the guys and Nicole were in the kitchen, Malcolm showing Dani his video games.

"Does Malcolm… like her?" Emily whispered.

"Pretty sure they both like each other, but I'm not going to embarrass him by asking." I said softly.

Toby and Spencer walked in and I quickly got up to go say hi. Walking up to them, Toby passed me a fake succulent plant and a thumbs up. Unbeknownst to him, Spencer warned that he was going to try to be funny tonight. Toby knows I'm terrible with keeping plants alive and he thinks it's completely hilarious. Alex had met Chloe and Caleb earlier at lunch, but she's still nervous about everyone else and backed out from coming tonight. Malcolm and Dani walked upstairs as I set the plant on the island

"Spence, I didn't fully believe you when you said he got me a fake plant." I said.

"Babe really, you told her? Then can I tell her the names I came up with?" Toby asked and she nodded.

We walked over towards the stairs, hearing all the kids now playing together in the boy's room. As much as I want to tell them everything from me being related to Alison to Ezra and I having twin girls, I feel like it would end up being a competition between me and Spencer. She had enough competition with Melissa while growing up, besides this is their time to shine with their baby names. Sitting down, Spencer and I both looked at Toby.

"Tell me, tell me, tell me!" I begged him.

"We compromised that I could pick the baby's name if they're a boy and she'd pick if they're a girl. As of right now; we're thinking of Ryan, Ethan, Logan…or Mason. We're a little iffy on Mason, not real sure about it." Toby said and I knew what he meant.

"Guys don't throw a name away because you think it might freak me out, the two names are completely different. Mason is a cute name, and you should use it if that's the name you want to use for your possible son. Besides, I'm fine now." I said

"Are you sure?" Spencer asked and I nodded

"Yes! Now, what girl names do you have picked out?" I asked.

"Audrey, Cassandra, Kennedy, and Paisley. But I do have the middle name picked out already." She said as Caleb called Toby over towards him and Chloe.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Marion, just don't tell Toby. Have you guys picked out any names yet?" She inquired.

"No, we're still up in the air but there's a chance we might be using Josephine as a middle name for a girl. It was Ezra's grandmothers name, the one he was close to." I explained and Oliver came down, running towards Ezra.

"Daddy, did you punch the person that stoled mama and Tobby?" Oliver asked.

Everyone looked shocked, trying to figure out what just happened. Internally groaning, I placed my face in my hands as Toby came back and sat down next to us. Ezra pulled Oliver up onto his lap and nodded. Sharing a look with Toby, I saw from the corner of my eye that Nicole looked a little confused about what was being said. I should have known that there was a chance Oliver was going to say something about that tonight, especially with Ezra here.

"Although violence is never the answer… Yes, but only because they put mama and Toby and you in danger." Ezra told him.

"I wasn't there daddy." Oliver giggled

"You were in my belly sweetie." I told him.

"Why don't you go show Caleb your movies?" Ezra suggested to Oliver.

Sharing a look with Ezra, we both knew we needed to talk about the fact that I had told Oliver about me and Toby being kidnapped. God, Ezra should have been there for that conversation! Or at least, I should have told him ahead of time that I had talked to Oliver about it. What if he has nightmares now? It'd be all my fault! Why is this parenting thing so damn hard? Ezra walked over and I stood up, leading him upstairs. Great, this is never ending for us. He should just yell at me in front of everyone again, wait, but the kids are here.

"You told him?" Ezra asked, as we got into my bedroom.

"He kept asking questions and one thing lead to another, I didn't know what to tell him…. I know you should've been -." I said until he cut me off.

"Are you okay?" He asked, more concerned for me

"Yeah, I'm fine. Obviously, I didn't go into exact details about it just that the person was sick and that they had me and Toby." I told him.

"I lied earlier. I didn't exactly punch Jason for the reason I gave Oliver… it was because he had said 'I could tell you this, Aria enjoys it a little rough.' Punching him seemed like a great response." He admitted.

"You know he only said that to get under your skin." I pointed out, trying not to let my emotions of him defending me against Jason show.

"Just the thought of him… hurting you in any way makes my blood boil and I wanted to kill him." He said, gently caressing my face.

"We better get back down to everyone." I told him, turning away from him

Just as we were about to turn around, we heard one of the kids walk downstairs. I quickly headed out of my room and headed down towards Maya. I could still feel Ezra's touch on my cheek, this shouldn't be so confusing! Why do I still feel the sparks whenever he looks at me or touches me? I should be feeling that with Josh, not with my soon to be ex-husband!

"Me and Rosie are soupmates." Oliver told Caleb and Chloe

"Really?" Caleb asked.

"Yeah! Just like mama and daddy are soupmates." Oliver explained

I couldn't look at Ezra when Oliver said that, especially since Nicole is here. _'We're sisters… ask Ella if you don't believe me.'_ God, will I ever be able to get Alison's damn voice out of my head? Talking to Ella can't be put off, I have Spencer and Toby's wedding to worry about. I don't want to accidentally burst out at Ella when it's a happy day for everyone. Toby looked at me and took my hand before leading me towards the bathroom, damn he can sense something is up.

"What is it?" He asked.

"It's complicated." I told him.

"Does it have anything to do with Ezra?" He whispered and I shook my head.

"No, but I'm not ready to talk about it yet. At least not until I talk to mom about everything." I said.

…..

Ezra's pov

As Toby pulled Aria down the hall, I made my way over to Hardy and Nicole. Walking over towards them, I realized she was about the same height as Aria maybe an inch or two taller. It all makes sense… Nicole reminded me of Aria when I first met her. It was everything about her that made me think of Aria, and although I knew she was coming home soon, I still missed her like crazy. I need to end this with Nicole, this isn't fair to her. Aria's the one for me and it's always going to be her. God, I miss her… I miss everything with her.

"Hey, I think I'm gonna head home. It's almost Ashleigh's bedtime and we need to be up early tomorrow." Nicole said.

"Let me walk you out, I need to talk to you about something." I said.

"Ashleigh we're gonna get going, go get your things." Nicole said as Ashley reached for a cracker.

Ashleigh nodded before grabbing a couple crackers and going back upstairs to get her stuff. Great, breaking up with her in front of her kid. But it's not like this can wait any longer, this should have ended before it could even begin… or even when Nicole started saying how Aria wasn't really Malcolm's mother. God, why am I stupid? First, I get into this relationship KNOWING that _my_ Aria was coming home then I refuse to be an adult and have a mature conversation about her and Hardy…. Now I didn't end it the second Nicole started badmouthing her! What is wrong with me? Nicole came back from grabbing her jacket and saying goodbye to everyone…. Except for Aria, which I don't think Aria really cared.

"Do I have to take a bath tonight mommy?" Ashleigh asked, coming back down.

"You can skip tonight's bath and take one tomorrow instead." Nicole told her as we headed to her car.

Nicole quickly started her car as Ashleigh waved bye and got in. I waved a little and Nicole walked back over. Just need to rip the bandage off, it shouldn't be that hard to do since I saw Hardy do it all the time back when we were in college. Wait a minute though, I'm _not_ Hardy and I can't just dump someone easily. Though Aria might say otherwise… should probably stop thinking about Aria while breaking up with Nicole.

"This is never easy to say, I don't think it's going to work out for us. Maybe it's best we just end it all here." I said, realizing that there were so many ways I could have worded that better

"Because you're still crazy in love with Aria. It was always going to be her in the end, I knew that." Nicole told me.

"I'm sorry, you just reminded me of her when we met and I never realized until tonight. Although I did have fun spending time with you… it never should have happened." I admitted.

"Yeah, it was fun. I'll see you around Ezra." She said.

….

Aria's pov

Ezra and I were in kitchen, waiting for the boys to come back down with their stuff. Soon after Nicole left, everyone else started leaving too. Which I don't really mind since I'm ready to go to bed and it's only nine, but I also want to start outlining my book about everything that I went through at Rosewood High. Turning around from putting leftovers away, I saw Ezra wiping up something that had been spilled on the counter.

"You do not need to help clean up Ez. With the boys, you're gonna have plenty to clean up yourself." I said.

"Well, I'm probably the one who spilled the dip. Besides, I want to help out with anything and I could use a distraction." He said, looking into my eyes.

As his eyes had met mine, I felt something in my stomach again. There was something in his eyes that I couldn't figure out, he's been acting a little different ever since Nicole left? What on earth happened between them in the five minutes that they were outside? I wanted to talk to Nicole earlier about what she said about me, but tonight wasn't the place to have that talk.

"I broke up with Nicole." Ezra said.

"Does this have anything to do with-." I started asking until he shook his head.

"No, being with Nicole just didn't feel right. It never did, and I didn't notice it until now." He admitted.

"I'm sorry. I know how much you liked her." I told him, gently squeezing his hand.

"She reminded me of you, that's why I liked her." Ezra mumbled, not knowing I heard him.

"The second she started disregarding you, that's when I should have ended it. But I stupidly didn't, and I'm sorry." He said

Before I could respond, the boys came down the stairs with their backpacks. We can both tell Oliver is sleepy but is trying to hide it from us. Hopefully, Oliver will sleep in and not wake Ezra up. Although Ezra does have to wake up early for work, except for those days when he refuses to get out of bed…. Wait, those days he just wanted to stay in bed all day with me and not care about anything else. I really need to stop thinking about those days and torturing myself with memories.

"We're ready." Malcolm said.

"Be good for dad." I told the boys as I gave them their hugs.

"No." Oliver said as he walked to Ezra and lifted his arms to be picked up

"You boys have everything?" I asked

Malcolm nodded. Kissing the top of his head, I gently pushed him towards Ezra and watched the three of them leave for the week. Even though I'll still see them, it still hurts to see them have to leave. I hate having to share custody like this, I hate having to watch my boys leave every other week… and I hate not being with Ezra. But it's time to get over him, I'm with Josh now.

…..

Next day

Pulling up in front of my parents' house, I stared up at the house. Maybe I should have asked Ezra to come with, he at least knows what happened. As much as I wanted to tell Toby about it last night, I'm not fully ready to talk about it… not even if I was talking to one of the girls. What if she found out that I was her half sister and that's the real reason she tortured us? Taking a deep breath, I got out of my car and Ella walked out of the house.

"Aria, honey I didn't know you were coming over. You missed dad and Luna, they left to go fishing with Toby a little while ago." She said as she came over to me.

"Just learned that Alison is my half-sister, were you ever planning on telling me?" I asked

"I didn't even know he had gotten Jessica pregnant until you became friends with her." She said.

"How could you not tell me that the person who made my life a living hell for TWO fucking years is my half-sister? All these years, you KNEW that I'm related to that – that DEMON PERSON!" I yelled.

"You know what? Coming here was a mistake." I said.

Without saying another word, I turned around and got back into my car. She knew what Alison put me through… yet never said a fucking word about it! Was she expecting me to be grateful? I share the same blood as Alison, and no one ever said a damn word about it! I drove off, not paying attention to where I was headed and frankly, I don't really care.

"Never thought to fucking tell me." I whispered to myself, pulling up to the curb.

I got out of car and walked up to the porch. Ringing the doorbell, I ran a hand through my hair as the door opened and he let me inside. As he turned back around from closing the door, I grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him in for a kiss. He pressed me up against the wall and rested his hands on my hips as I slipped my tongue into his mouth. Snapping back into reality, I realized what I was doing and quickly pulled away.

"I – I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that… I shouldn't have come." I sputtered.

As I turned to leave, Ezra took my hand to stop me. Luckily, the boys have soccer all day. How could I explain to them why I'm kissing Ezra when we're no longer together and I'm dating Josh? I'm the worst role model for my kids! Maybe I need to go hibernate myself until it's time for Spencer and Toby's wedding. Can't keep doing reckless crap like kissing Ezra if I'm in hibernation.

"Wait, Aria talk to me." He said, leading me to the couch.

"I had gone to confront Ella about Alison. It got too much and I left, instead of thinking of going to one of the girls or Josh, my messed up subconscious apparently thought to come to you." I said, refusing to meet his gaze.

"Ar, I don't think your subconscious is messed up. But you have a lot going on in your life right now, and it seems to know that you're not ready to talk to the girls about you and Alison. Remember when I used to be able to make you feel better with just a kiss? I miss those days." Ezra said softly.

"Those days are over Ezra, I'm with Josh now." I reminded him.

"Can you actually see a real future with Josh?" He asked

How could I answer that? I have no idea whether or not I see josh and I in my future! Ezra was watching me, it's over between us and he wants to start reminiscing about who we used to be? Neither of us are those people anymore, we can't just go back to being those people… no matter how much we may want to. I still miss being with him, but I just cannot ignore my growing feelings for Josh.

"What about us? Where do we stand in your future?"

"Why are you asking this now?" I asked, starting to feel my emotions.

"Because I love you, and there's obvious some reason that your subconscious had you came here to kiss me instead of going to Josh or even the girls." Ezra said

"Did you believe that you just say that you love me and everything would go back to normal? You just got out of a relationship and now you love me again?" I inquired.

"No, I-." He started but I cut him off.

"We're getting divorced, I'm not playing games anymore Ezra. We had our chance." I said, even though the words broke my heart.

…

The next day

I pulled into Ella's driveway and took a deep breath. Running to Ezra yesterday had been a bad idea…. he's like a comfort zone for me, but he shouldn't be that zone for me anymore. Especially when it's over between us This conversation really needs actually happen without me yelling, and I really need to stop going to Ezra for every single little inconvenience in my life. Getting out of my car, Ella walked out and seemed shocked that I was back.

"Aria." She said, walking over to me.

"Thought you were dad and Luna back early from the park, why don't we go inside?" She suggested and led me inside.

We walked into the house, and I saw all the photos of Mike, Toby, and I growing up, there's even a copy of mine and Ezra's wedding photo and a photo of me and the girls when we graduated high school. Sitting at the kitchen table, I caught a glimpse of the photos my mom has of Oliver, Malcolm, and Luna. Neither of us said anything as Ella went to get us some sweet tea, pretty sure she's just waiting for me to tell her why I'm back again.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna yell or anything dramatic. I wanna hear what happened; how did you even find out that Byron cheated?" I asked.

"Scott told me, while I was in labor with you." She said

_Flashback – July 12__th__, 1994_

_Ella's pov_

_I laid in the hospital bed with Byron's younger brother Scott in the chair next to me, going over the baby names that Byron wanted me to consider. There's no need to go over this list, I have a name picked out already. Glancing at the clock, I sighed at the fact Byron still hasn't arrived at the hospital. He knows damn well that I'm here in labor and have been for the past five hours, and I know that his job knows I could go into labor any day. At least Scott is here, Elizabeth should be here any moment… just like Byron should be. Feeling my baby girl give me with another contraction, I placed a hand over my swollen belly and smiled despite the fact I want to scream in pain. Really hope Elizabeth and my parents get here soon, it's bad enough that Byron moved us away from Rosewood to some stupid city that I don't know anyone._

"_Ella… There's something you should know. It may not be my place to tell you, but you're pretty much my only sister and you deserve to know." Scott said, taking my hand._

"_What's going ON?" I asked with another contraction._

"_Byron's seeing Jessica Dilaurentis behind your back." He said._

_So that's why it feels like Byron is distant, everything makes sense now. All these 'late nights' at work, him being secretive and smelling like perfume. How could he cheat on me? I'm carrying his child! The hot tears brimmed my eyes as I felt another contraction, it hurt more than the other ones. He has a family at home, and he's out with Jessica? Wait a minute, didn't she cheat on Kenneth with Peter Hastings too? I wonder if Mary happens to know anything… but I haven't seen or heard from her since before she left to give birth. Really wish she were here with me like she promised when we learned we were both expecting. Our babies can't grow up together like we had planned, my baby just has Peter and Veronica's daughter Spencer._

"_I'm sorry Ella." Scott whispered._

"_It's not your fault, you didn't do anything wrong. But Elizabeth or my parents cannot know about this, she already hates Byron enough as it is. As does my mother, both she and Lizzie will be here soon." I told him._

"_What are you going to do?" He asked._

"_Byron has a choice to make, but I'll never let my baby know her father is a cheater." I said_

_God, I want my chocolate ice cream and pickles but no…. I can't eat while in labor, only ice chips. A couple nurses walked and I sighed of relief, seeing that they have my epidural. Byron walked in as Scott fed me an ice chip, bet he had been with __**her. **__Daniel would never have done this to me or Marion, he cares too much._

"_Sorry I'm late, work was crazy." He said, kissing the top of my head._

"_We know you weren't at work, I told her the truth about Jessica." Scott said, and Byron turned to me._

"_I ended it with her, turns out that she was seeing another guy behind my back." Byron said._

_Scott and I stared at him in shock, was he trying to get us to feel sorry for him? He cheated on me… What in his right mind thought it was okay for him to do that to the woman who is with HIS child. And he wants me to feel bad that his mistress was cheating on HIM? He deserves that karma, ruining his family._

"_Just like you've been seeing someone behind MY back, your pregnant FIANCÉE?!" I said, screaming through contractions._

"_I work hard AND go to classes! Then when I want to spend special time with you, it's either you don't feel good or you're not in the mood." Byron snapped._

"_Don't you dare try to put the blame on me, did you forget that I'm pregnant with your child! Give me one damn good reason why I should keep you in my life, let alone our daughter's!" I told him._

"_You learned the sex?" He asked and Scott seemed excited about having a niece._

_There isn't a need for me to ask the doctor, I know in my heart that my baby is girl. Whether Byron likes it or not. Plus, I've shown all the signs of carrying a girl. All I need is for my baby to hurry on out and prove me right. Byron thought he could blame me for him cheating? I didn't force him to cheat, he has barely been there for my pregnancy and Scott has been… and Scott isn't even the father. Although at this point, I wish he were the father._

"_No, but I just know that our baby is a girl." I said._

"_We talked about this EllieBear; you can't get too attached to this fantasy of yours that the baby's a girl. Besides, what kind of mother keeps their child away from their father? That's how they'll resent you in the end." He said, and my nurse came in._

"_Okay Ella, let me check you again." My nurse Debra said, walking in._

"_Ella… it's time." She said smiling._

_End of Flashback (Back to Aria's pov)_

Neither of us said anything as I comprehended everything. If Ella had kicked Byron to the curb…. Who knows where we'd be today. Mike may not have been born, and who knows if I would ever have been with Ezra and we may not even have the boys. She had to live with the fact Byron cheated on her while she was pregnant all those years, especially when I brought Alison over to the house. How long had Byron known that Alison was his?

"The moment you had walked in house with her and introduced us, Byron's reaction said it all. I should've told you the moment I found out Alison knew." She told me, I stared at her confused.

"You and Mike were both out with your friends. I came home to see Byron had the table set with two glasses of wine, the garnacha that we only had for special occasions. Then he told me that Alison figured it out." She explained.

"When was that?" I asked.

"Around Halloween, that's all I know about everything when it comes to Alison." She told me.

So, when I had learned Byron was cheating with Meredith, Alison found out that he was her biological father. She convinced me to trash his office…. I bet it was so she could get her anger out instead of helping me. It had always been about Alison and what she wanted, never about any of us or our feelings. Nothing mattered to her unless it benefitted her too, although I'm not sure how getting Hanna to throw up after eating could benefit her.

"Honey, I didn't tell you at first because I didn't want you to know that your father cheated." She said softly.

"But why didn't you tell me after everything ended?" I asked.

"You had gone through so much. Then Alison ended up being alive AND in charge of everything that you had gone through, it was hard to even think about telling you that she shared half your blood." She explained, placing a hand on my cheek

Ella took my hands in hers as I gave her a small smile. If Byron's Alison and Bethany's father, does that mean he was the one that talked to the news station when it was revealed about Bethany and Ali? But him being their father would've spread through Rosewood like wildfire just like any other gossip. How could he have hidden the fact that he had gotten Mrs. D pregnant? None of that matters, all I know is that I know who my real sisters are…. And Alison is not one of them.

**AN – There's still time to send in names for Ezria's twins and Spoby's baby! The dinner rehearsal/ wedding are the next few chapters and we'll be learning the sex of Spoby's baby too. I'm not sure when I'll be able to get the next chapter out, but I'm going to try to get it out soon.**


	18. Chapter 18

**AN – Guys, please read the AN note at the end of this chapter, thank you.**

Chapter 18 – week later

Spencer's pov

Toby intertwined our fingers as we sat with my parents, Alex, Melissa, and Wren in my parent's living room. My parents wanted to have an intimate family dinner, with only just us before the dinner rehearsal tomorrow and then the wedding. Melissa is currently is going on and on about how she and Wren were almost done remodeling their townhouse, I shared a look with Toby and we both knew it's time to tell my parents about the baby. Watching Melissa, I stood up as she finally stopped talking about the bathroom design and Toby stood up with me.

"There's something we want to tell you guys. Well, the thing is…. I am pregnant." I said.

"You're having a baby?" Mom squealed and I nodded.

"Yeah, we are. I'm actually fif-." I started saying

"So, you're getting married because you got knocked up?" Melissa asked, interrupting me.

"Melissa!" Dad snapped as Toby gently squeezed my hand.

"If you had waited, I was going to say that I'm fifteen weeks along. Anyway, I brought the finalized photos of everything for the wedding." I said, getting the album out and handing it over to my mom.

"Toby son, I think there's a bottle of scotch back in my office that's calling our names." Dad said, getting up

"Is he gonna kill me?" Toby whispered and I shook my head giggling,

"No but have some scotch for me." I told him.

Toby nodded and kissed my forehead before walking off with my dad, as mom and Alex looked through the pictures. As much as I would love to have Alex standing up with me and the girls, we just met and we still barely know each other. Even though we've already gotten quite close already, how could I ask someone I barely know to stand with me at my wedding? Plus, it would be so much work and money to add another bridesmaid in last minute.

"Oh, these flowers are just lovely Spencer." Mom said, looking up.

"It was Toby's idea to use white hydrangeas, so I cannot take credit." I told her.

"Excuse me, I must use the restroom and freshen up." Mom said

The phone in the office started ringing as mom handed the album back and stood up. Toby walked out with his scotch, which means my dad decided to take the call from whoever it was. Mom saw Toby and I could tell she was about to kill my dad. Even though after his heart attack last year and his doctor telling him to take it easy, dad really doesn't listen unless mom yells at him to take a break.

"I told him he should take it." Toby said, mom nodded before heading upstairs.

"You know, I was going to use white hydrangeas for our wedding next year." Melissa said, rubbing Wrens arm

"We had no idea you two were engaged. Congratulations." I said

"It'd be terrible if we both used hydrangeas for both of our weddings." Melissa said.

"Then don't use hydrangeas Melissa." I told her.

"But I've been dreaming of white hydrangeas as my wedding flower my whole life! Are you sure you can't pick another flower?" Melissa pouted

Oh my god, she is actually pouting over this! I'm shocked she's not stomping her foot and having a legit tantrum about it. And about all things to throw a tantrum about, she chooses to do it over flowers. As Alex and Wren looked at each other, both clearly unsure about what is happening I stood up and went into the kitchen. Instead of getting a headache from dealing with Melissa, I'm beginning to feel nauseous… which means my baby doesn't even like dealing with Melissa.

"Mel, I'm not picking another flower – a WEEK before my wedding. I know there are saltine crackers somewhere, god, where are they?" I told her.

"But I thought you hated white hydrangeas?" Melissa asked as Toby came up.

"It's yellow carnations that she doesn't like. But she chose the hydrangeas first, you can't guilt her into changing her flowers." Toby said.

As I gave him a small smile, he found the crackers and handed them over. My parents came back and we sat back down. Alex, Wren and Toby still seemed concerned about what had just happened. God, I cannot wait until tonight is over. Melissa kept going on about her and Wren's wedding as Toby wrapped an arm around my shoulders and kissed the side of my head. Alex glanced over at me and we shared a look, we were both annoyed with Melissa.

"We're planning for June sixteenth next year, it's just the perfect date." Melissa told us and I dropped my crackers in shock.

"Please tell me you're joking." Dad groaned

"Are you for real Melissa?" I snapped.

"It's just a date Spencer." Melissa said, as if she weren't just trying to get me to change my flowers so she could have them.

"This is a happy time right now; you girls are killing me." Dad joked.

"That's not even funny dad!" I exclaimed

"What are you going on about Spencer?" Melissa asked and I turned to her.

"Do you not remember dad's heart attack last year? Oh wait, you didn't even bother coming home when we called you!" I snapped

"I was in London Spencer." She reminded me

"So was Aria! But she came home early when she found out!" I pointed out, trying to keep calm.

"What happened to us trying to get back our old relationship? Why are you acting like your old bitchy self again?" I asked, not caring if I get yelled at.

"Things have changed Spencer." She said coldly.

"Things or is it people that have changed?" I asked

Without saying another word, I got up and ran upstairs into my old room. I'm a little surprised that my parents even kept it the same after I moved in with Toby. Sitting down on the bed, I put my face in my hands as I felt Toby sit down next to me and wrap an arm around me and I looked at him. Should have known he would have come after me, he knows how my relationship used to be with Melissa.

"I'm seriously wondering if I even want her at the wedding anymore." I said.

"We can uninvite her if you want, that's up to you Spence." He said softly.

"Pretty soon you'll be my wife." He whispered in my ear, getting me to giggle.

"I feel like time is going fast and slow all at once." I said softly, he chuckled and brushed his lips against mine.

"Can we go home?" I asked as we pulled apart

"Are you one hundred percent sure?" He asked and I nodded.

"I can't be around Melissa anymore tonight." I explained

"Alright babe, I'll go let Alex and your parents know. But take a few deep breaths before you come down, stress isn't good for you or the baby." He told me, kissing my nose and walked out.

I looked around and went over to my red chaise, memories of me and Aria both laying on it while planning our dream weddings when we were little came flooding back. But now, she and Ezra are signing the divorce papers tomorrow morning. We all thought they'd beat the odds like they had done before… but I guess it wasn't in their cards this time. Sighing, I walked out and headed down the stairs to see Alex waiting for me. I hate that she saw everything between me and Melissa, and the fact that tonight was how she learned about dad's heart attack. As Alex handed me Toby's denim jacket, Melissa walked over as if nothing happened between us and I secretly shared an annoyed expression with Alex.

"I saw mom the other day, she said she never received her invitation when I brought your wedding up." Melissa said.

"That's because, she wasn't invited." I told her, pulling Toby's jacket on.

"She's our mother Spencer." Melissa said, I held back a scoff

"No, Melissa, She's _your_ mother. She may have had her moments throughout sixteen years of my life, but a majority of the time…. I was just a burden to her. She is not invited, nor was she ever even considered to be invited. You can invite her to your wedding." I told her.

Toby came over and took my hand in his as my dad walked up and handed us the leftovers. As the wedding gets closer, I keep feeling guilty about leaving Alex here when Toby and I leave for Hawaii. Aria said that Alex could always stay with her and the boys while we're gone, plus she has mom and dad here too and I'm sure they'd let her stay with them as well. Mom came over with a piece of paper and handed it to me, I opened it to see a list of different pre-natal vitamins and OBGYNs.

"What time is check in again?" Mom asked.

"Check in is at three, it gives everyone a little bit of time to relax before rehearsal dinner at seven." Toby told her.

…

The next night

Aria's pov

I stood with Carolyn, talking about Beth's gymnastics class. Beth is the spitting image of Emily and takes after her in the sports department but preferring non water sports. Ezra looked over towards me and gave me a small smile. It's been an emotional day for me, we signed the divorce papers this morning and I've been crying multiple times over our relationship and the fact Spencer and Toby are getting married. Things have been weird between Ezra and I since he admitted thar he still loves me; it doesn't help that he's been pretty attentive when it comes to me and the baby. Sooner or later, he's going to do something in front of Josh and I still haven't told him that I'm pregnant with Ezra's baby.

"Spencer's lucky I love her." Carolyn muttered, looking past me.

Turning my head, I saw Mrs. Fields had arrived and walking towards us. It's pretty clear that neither mother or daughter kept in touch since the day of Mr. Fields's funeral, where Pam lashed out at Carolyn for being there and for bringing Hudson to a 'family only' service. Despite Emily intervening and telling their mother that the girls and I were not family but we had been invited. Even though Carolyn never had a good relationship with her mother, it had gotten worse at the funeral.

"Hello Mrs. Fields, you look lovely this evening." I greeted her and received a small smile.

"Mother, how have you been?" Carolyn asked.

"Just wonderful, you and Hudson are still together I presume?" Pam asked.

She looked around the room, clearly in search of Hudson. I looked over to Carolyn, who carefully shook her head to indicate she didn't want me to say anything. Beth skipped over, pulling Emily and Ezra over to us. Emily gave Pam a quick hug before noticing Carolyn and mine's facial expression. From what Emily and Carolyn have said over the years, both Pam and Mr. Fields know that Carolyn adopted Beth from Emily.

"Beth aren't you a doll in your dress. I bet your breaking the boys' hearts in your class." Pam told Beth.

"No, boys are gross." Beth said, receiving chuckles from us.

"Oh. I see you're just like your mother." Pam said coldly,

"Mommy." Beth whimpered, hiding behind Carolyn.

"Mrs. Fields, I don't think that's appropriate to say to a child." Ezra said, as Maya walked over.

"Emily, you could have had such an amazing life if you hadn't had Beth or got with…. _Her_." Mrs. Fields said.

Oh my god, this is Mr. Fields funeral all over again! I looked around, searching for Caleb and couldn't find him. Toby noticed me and excused himself from Peter and Ella before heading over here. This is supposed to be a non-stressful night, but at least Melissa has been on her good behavior tonight. Toby told me and Caleb about what had happened yesterday with her, so we've been keeping our eyes on her.

"What did you just say?" Emily hissed as Hudson walked over.

"Hudson, take Beth to the bathroom." Carolyn said, Hudson took Beth's hand and quickly walked her away

"Having Beth and getting with Maya ruined your relationship with Ben and your future with swimming." Mrs. Fields said.

What's going on?" Toby whispered.

"It's like you wanted us to be exactly how _you_ wanted us to be. You never cared about whether or not we were happy doing what _you_ wanted, you only cared about these so called values. Maya and I are having kids, and all I want is for their grandmother to be a part of their lives." Emily snapped.

"I need some air; I'll be right back" She continued.

We stared after Emily as she walked outside, it was clear that she was in her own little world now. How could Mrs. Fields just pretend to have accepted Emily and Maya all these years? To pretend that she supports them… just to reveal that all of it has been a lie. Toby quickly went after Emily. None of us said anything as we all walked away from Mrs. Fields, Carolyn went after Hudson and Beth even though it was clear that it was really Emily that she wanted to check on. As I walked up to the bar, Ezra walked over and gave me another smile.

"Can we go somewhere and talk about something?" He asked.

Before I could answer him, Spencer came up with Caleb, who started ordering something from the bartender. By the look on Spencer's face, I could tell that she was about to uninvite Mrs. Fields from the wedding. I looked around, looking to see if Emily or Toby came back.

"They're still outside, Maya's worried about her. Pam is the only parent Emily has now, and she's now learning that her mother's approval has been a lie this entire time." Spencer said quietly.

"Spencer, you look lovely." Mrs. Fields said as Emily walked up with Toby.

"I changed my mind; I don't want you to have any part in my kids' lives…. Or mine. You saw me go through Alison's mind torture game, then I lose the one parent who honestly loved me no matter what. I'm so done with you." Emily told Pam, before walking off.

"Mrs. Fields, I'm going to have to ask you to leave… and not come tomorrow." Spencer said.

"All Emily needed was for you to love and accept her for who she is, not just pretend to accept her. You're going to miss out on watching her get married and raise kids." I said.

Hanna came up and seemed to know exactly what was going on. Before either me or Spencer could ask, she pointed towards the restroom and we followed her out of the ballroom. Walking down the hall, some ladies walked out of the bathroom looking very concerned. We could hear Emily talking with Maya about Pam, and that she was trying to muffle her crying. We slowly opened the door and Maya caught us.

"Em, are you okay?" Spencer asked.

"I'm sorry." Emily said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands.

"Do not apologize, you couldn't have known." Spencer told her, pulling her in for a hug

"There were signs Spence, and I ignored them. My relationship with her has been strained for a while, it got worse after my dad died. Especially after she found out that Beth was biologically mine. You guys saw her at my dad's funeral… yelling at Carolyn for showing up and bringing Hudson." Emily told us

"We love you, always have and always will." Hanna said, taking Emily's hands

"This is supposed a happy time, can we stop making me cry?" Emily joked.

None of us said another word as Maya, Hanna and I joined their hug. No matter where life takes any of us, I know we will always have each other. We've gone through so much together and there's still more of life for us to all go through. Hopefully soon, I'll be working with Emily and Maya at the high school while Spencer is working on her law career and Hanna bringing all her old design drawings to life.

…

Looking out at the entire garden, I sensed someone walking out and knew it was Ezra. And I know we're going to end up having a conversation about what he said about still being in love with me. But I'm not ready to have it yet, and it's not a good time when it's about Spencer and Toby right now. Plus, we're all still a little emotional from Mary and Peter's speeches, along with what happened between Emily and her mother. There is no way, he'd try to have a conversation about us tonight. Turning around, I saw that it was indeed Ezra behind me. As he got closer, he took my hands in his.

"Aria, I meant it when I told you that I love you. It was always going to be you in the end, I only got with Nicole because she reminded me of you. Aria…. You're the one I'm in love with, the only one I could ever be in love with." He said softly.

"Do you really think now is a smart time for this?" I asked, taking my hands back.

"Is anytime ever really a good time? I know that we have is what I want forever, even if it takes you a little while longer to figure out. You're the one I want to be with, it's going to be us in the end. It has always been you that I want to spend the rest of my life with." He said

"I never needed to figure it out Ezra, I made it clear since the beginning that all I wanted was us." I told him

"Aria, you needed normal school years that didn't include your eleventh grade English teacher. I'm not gonna step aside, I'm going to fight for you… for us. What we have is real, and in the back of your mind you know it too." He said.

"We don't have that anymore Ezra, remember why? You got into another relationship, ending everything for us. You say that you want to be with me, should have thought of that when you met Nicole. I made my mistakes that helped end our relationship, but you ended it first by getting with Nicole. And you're right about one thing, I didn't need my old English teacher… but what I needed was to be with _you_." I said.

Before he could respond, I turned around to see Toby at the door and I walked inside. Toby placed a hand on my back as we made our way towards the bar. If I weren't pregnant, I'd be shooting down a couple shots right now. Everything between me and Ezra… it's getting more and more confusing, I'm not completely over him but I have these growing feelings for Josh. Willing myself not to cry, I looked over at Toby and it was obvious he could tell. Luckily for me, Toby won't try to fight Ezra because if either one of them were to geta black eye… Spencer will be pissed off at both of them. Plus, it could ruin tomorrows photos.

"When did life get complicated." I asked.

"Come on, I'll get you a drink." Toby said and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"A virgin drink, how about a cherry coke… with an extra cherry?" He suggested and I nodded.

"Have I ever told you that you are the best big brother ever?" I asked.

"No, but you have kicked my ass a few times." He reminded me.

…

It was time for all of us to head upstairs, the boys had gone up to bed while ago with Emily and Hanna. Even though Emily was with them in the groomsmen suite, Ezra and I made sure Malcolm knew both our phone numbers in case of emergency since Emily is hard to wake up. Although, we all knew we'd be following suit soon after anyways. Looking around for Spencer, I glanced over towards the elevators to see her and Toby practically making out like teenagers and Caleb was trying not to laugh.

"We love you guys but come on! Both of you need your sleep, and frankly its gross seeing you two make out." I called out.

"Hey, you get to see her all day and I don't until she's walking down the aisle." Toby pointed out.

"At least keep it rated G!" Maya said, jokingly shielding her eyes.

"Or go hide somewhere, you're grossing out my baby." I added with a laugh.

Toby gave Spencer one last kiss before gently ushering her towards me and getting on one of the elevators. Walking up to me, she looped her arm through mine as I caught Ezra's eye. He gave me a small smile before I quickly looked away, why did he think that tonight was the right time to say that he wants to be with me? Especially after what happened between Mrs. Fields and Emily.

"We'll be up in a few minutes, just need to pee." Spencer told everyone as they watched us walk past the elevator.

"Alright, I need to know what the hell is happening between you and Ezra." She said, the second we were in the restroom.

"The night of my home warming party, we had a moment after everyone left. He had said that Nicole had reminded him of me… but I don't think he knew that I heard. Then tonight, he told me that he wants to be with me and isn't going to step aside." I explained.

"What are you feeling about all of it?" She asked carefully and we walked back towards the elevators and got in an empty one.

"Right now, anger and hurt. He knew exactly what to say, what I've wanted to hear for the past four years." I told her, pushing my other feelings in the back of my mind.

I quickly pressed the button for our floor and my other feelings about Ezra to the back of my mind. Now isn't the time to dig into my feelings about Ezra, or our relationship. Just because he finally broke up with Nicole, doesn't mean anything. I'm not about to push the blooming relationship I have with Josh just because Ezra said that he wants us again. That's what I would have done and did when I was sixteen, but I'm not that person anymore. The elevator door opened and we got off.

"Are you going to be okay sharing a room with him tomorrow?" She asked as we made our way down the hall.

"It'll be fine Spence, we're adults here. Besides, I could always make him sleep on the chairs if it comes to it." I said jokingly.

Spencer and I walked into our room to see Hanna and Maya already fast sleep in their bed. Since Emily is what I like to call a Groomsmaid, the arrangement is that she'll sleep in the guys' suit and then come over when it's time for our photos to be taken. We quickly changed into our pajamas, I set my alarm for us tomorrow and checked that the girls had their alarms set as well. I'm not risking there not be an alarm and then having us all be rushed to get ready; Spencer will be worried enough about time as it is.

"Okay, I set the alarms. We can go to bed and then tomorrow… you'll be Mrs. Spencer Jill Cavanaugh!" I quietly exclaimed, getting into our bed as Spencer struggled to keep her eyes open.

"I want you to…." Spencer murmured falling asleep.

**AN – What do you think it was that Spencer wanted to tell Aria? Just wanted to let you all know I'm going to take a break for a little while, I'm starting to get drained/ unmotivated and I want to be able to give you everything I can for the rest of the story. But I promise that when I come back and start posting again… you're going to love the rest of the story. **


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